The Dawn of a new life
by Indochine
Summary: After the crisis with the Rosalia Virus, life is normal again. However, that doesn't mean life events don't happen and our 6 protagonists are to face difficult choices for their future. Several pairings. EDIT CHAP8 now posted.
1. Good Morning Navel, I have a surprise fo

**Hi guys! I've decided to post for the first time in the section of the Trauma Center series. I'm reading the stories but I've never written anything. However Trauma Team changed my mind! :)**

**This is going to be a multiple chapters story that I will update and finish. About the updates: well it will depend of my schedule. The last year of High School is pretty hard, but I'll promise I'll update this story as soon as possible. **

**Also, I'm not English or American, so I apologize for all the grammar mistakes and so on, I could have made and for all those that I'll made later. That's also why I'm pretty slow in writing. **

**The first chapter is short, but normally the others should be longer. Like I said in the summary: it's mostly about Naomi and Navel. So the first chapter is about them.**

**LAST THING I HAVE TO SAY: T****he rating will be kept at K or T. So if there is any M scene I'll post them elsewhere.**

**DISCLAIMER: All the characters belong to Atlus. And I take no profit of them.**

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**Chapter 1: Good morning Navel, I have a surprise for you**

"Good morning, Special Investigator Navel!"

I glance at the guy at the entrance door, and smile, before replying: "Good morning to you too, Officer."

I enter the building, and head towards my office. Inside, my computer is waiting for me, just like every other days. But I never get tired of it. Never.

_*Beep beep*_

Oh, I've got a new message. It's from Naomi.

I smile.

This woman, she's really something. I've met her for the first time when I was working for Delphi. I chose her with Professor Blackwell. I've always known about her Healing Touch, and about her problems in Japan. She was under Blackwell's and my orders at that time. But right now, I am under her orders and it doesn't bother me a bit.

Well at first, it did. But she didn't left me any choice and I complied. With all my heart.

Because I think I can say that I'm in love with her. Well maybe it isn't as deep as it sounds, but I do care for her, and I'm always happy when I work with her or when I'm with her. And I worry a lot when she's in danger. More than a partner should.

But that's all I am to her. A partner. The "Little Guy" who helps her with her investigations. More often than I should, I hope that I'm more than just that. Especially because of what happened a month ago.

I smile to myself. A month ago. The crisis with the Rosalia Virus ended a month ago. Naomi was operated a month ago, and survived. We, with all Resurgam, the FBI and CIFM, celebrated the end of this nightmare a month ago. And we were all drunk, except maybe for my boss, Ian Holden, and his prisoner, the guy with no name.

And I and Naomi slept with each other a month ago.

I had never seen her drunk. She was clutching at me a bit too much, but at this time I'm sure she felt relieved. Because she was going to live and not to die. And I was feeling relieved too. Maybe that's why she was so drunk. I had volunteered to bring her home and that's what I did, but when we arrived, because of my state and hers (I mean we were all drunk, in this party and I was no exception), we began kissing, and in the morning when I woke up, I found myself in her bed, totally naked, just like her.

We never talked again of that night. She just told me that it was a mistake and that nobody would, _should_, never know about it, and at that time I agreed with her. But I just can't stop thinking about it. Her attitude towards me didn't change at all, she's still serious and severe, and sometimes sly and mocking, just like nothing happened. And I know that she wants to persuade herself that it never happened. But _I _just can't forget that. This was the best night of life, even if I can't remember everything.

Back to my computer, I open her message. It is short and precise:

"Call me, ASAP."

It must be about the case, some guy poisoned in a Chinese restaurant. I call her number and she answers almost immediately.

"Hello Doctor", I greet her.

"Hello Little Guy." That's all she said.

"Um… Do you want to hear about the results of…"

"Shut it."

? What? Did I hear well? Did she tell me to "shut it"?

"I'm sorry…but Doctor, are you alright?"

No response; I am worried. She answers after a few seconds, "Little Guy…I have to tell you something…"

I hear the tension and something else I can't identify in her voice. Maybe she had a relapse of her illness, or maybe something happened to Alyssa. But at this instant she's talking again, and I focus on her words, "Little Guy… I…" she struggles to find her words. And when I finally decide to ask her what's wrong, she spits it out, just like that:

"Little Guy… I'm pregnant."

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**I hope you enjoyed it. And please review, even if you think it's awful, because reviews is what make me write faster! Also give me advice, I love them. You can also ask me questions. But if I have no review, there is no updating.**

**See you soon! :) Oh and I'm looking for a beta-reader, so if you're interested...**


	2. News and New faces

**Hello there! :) Here I come with chapter 2. I have a little thing to explain. I wrote about three of the main characters in this chapter because I thought that writing about all of them would be too disturbing, and too long. Every chapter will feature two or three characters, but no more. And at the end of every chapter, I'll tell you who I'll write about in the next chapter. I hope it's clear and okay with you. ;)**

**I thank all my reviewers, and I hope you'll like this chapter! And many, many thanks to risefromgrace16 for being my beta reader and correcting all my mistakes!^^**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing in this chapter, except Ashley Strew, Marilyn and Jeremy Blunt who belong to me.**

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**Chapter 2: News and new faces**

CR-S01 was lost deep in thought when the door of his icebox, which is in fact his cell, opened. He didn't pay attention at first, thinking that it was Ian Holden with a new operation to reduce his sentence. But it wasn't Holden.

"Hey, kid! How are you?"

It was Gabriel Cunningham.

It doesn't really surprise the young surgeon. The doctors of Resurgam were coming to visit him at least once or twice a week, after the Rosalia Virus attack. It was a way to remind him that he wasn't alone anymore, and that he did save a lot of lives during the virus attack. They were like…friends to him. Even if CR-S01 didn't know, until a little while ago, what friendship was.

There was Hank Freebird, a giant but gentle and kind orthopedic surgeon, who had been nice to him since his first time at the hospital. Just like Tomoe Tachibana, a pretty woman who has always believed in him, even when she heard about the Cumberland Incident. She was always smiling to him, and to everybody. There was also Maria Torres, she reminded CR-S01 of a tigress, and she was punching everybody, well except Tomoe. The endoscopic surgeon and Maria were getting along very well, and Maria considered Tomoe as a sister. She never yelled at Tomoe.

But the person he encountered in this hospital who left the biggest impression on him, was Gabriel Cunningham. He was the one who had gotten CR-S01 out of jail so that he could work at the hospital for a little while. Thanks to him, the surgeon was now passionate about his work, and had found what was the meaning of life. And this thought was always in his head, each time he saw the diagnostician. He was a tall and thin man, with huge mass of hair. Always smoking and smirking, he was also a handsome man. Every woman who knew him would say that, including Chief Patel. He was going through a divorce right now, but that didn't seem to bother him so much.

"So what are you up to?"

"Nothing. I'm waiting for a new operation to reduce my sentence", CR-S01 responded.

"Well that seems very fun. I'm here because I have a good news for you kid. In fact you should thank Tomoe, it was her idea. I talked with Tillman and Holden and they agreed to let you a night off, it means a night out of jail, two evenings per month. You will be with us for those two evenings. Great, huh?"

CR-S01 let a small smile stretch his lips; he was indeed happy. Looking again at Gabriel, he noticed the diagnostician's amber eyes. It was the first time he really saw Gabe's eyes, and the surgeon was captivated for a moment. Sometimes, when he let his mind wander, he thought back about Gabriel's son's operation, and his attitude towards him when his son had been safe. Thankful but still mocking. Then there had been Alyssa's operation, and the trust that Gabriel had put into him. He hadn't hesitated to make Holden believe that he had made the young surgeon escape, even when he could have had a lot of problems. All the doctors had trusted him, but he realized that he did care more about Dr. Cunningham's trust than the others'.

And when Gabriel Cunningham left soon after, CR-S01 noticed that, each time he saw him, each time he came to this same conclusion.

* * *

"Heeeeeeey! Hank!"

Hank Freebird turned back to see Maria Torres running in his direction. She had a huge smile dancing on her lips.

"Oh, hi Maria", responded Hank, with a slight smile.

"Guess what! Guess what!" She urged him, jumping a little.

"Oh, uh… You… I don't know?"

"Huh! You've got no imagination! I'm gonna tell you! You know the firemen who are sometimes working with the paramedics? Well since the virus attack, and in addition of all the people I saved from that big bus crashing in the mall, with Gabe and you and Tomoe, well, their chief asked the Chief, I mean _our_ Chief, if I could make a speech to motivate all the new firemen and the new paramedics from all the hospitals of Portland. Isn't it cool? Huh? I mean no one will dare say I'm not a hero, I mean, they're asking ME! I am a celebrity! Every paramedics and firement are relying on me!" Maria was so excited , and her smile so big that Hank couldn't help but smile at her happiness. She deserved that, after all. She was passionate about her work, and had always wanted to be a hero. Just like him, in fact. And she was always working so hard.

"That's nice Maria! So you have to prepare a long speech?"

"YEAH! Oh… Oh God, I've never written a speech in my entire life, what will I do? I have to ask Tomoe!"

She was already leaving, but the orthopedic surgeon called her back.

"Maria, be yourself, and everything is gonna be okay!" He told her, amused by her behavior.

"Maaan, you're right! Tomoe would have told me the same thing! So I guess I don't have to write a speech.

"And when is it going to be?" Hank asked, wondering if it would match with his schedule so that he could go with her.

"Huh? This afternoon. You wanna come?"

"Hum… I don't know. Oh no, I forgot. I am supposed to spend the afternoon with Claire."

Maria stared at him for a moment, before smiling again, and punching him: "Hey big guy, don't worry. I understand, it's okay. You can spend the afternoon with Claire if you want, it's no big deal! Besides I'm sure Tomoe will be able to come with me. I won't be alone!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yep, I'm gonna be fine! And everybody will be talking about me afterwards, you'll see!", she said, raising her fit in the air.

Hank laughed a little, lifting his hand too so that they could high five.

[…]

_**Later**_

Maria and Tomoe arrived in front of the little theatre where Maria was supposed to speak. They entered the building, and noticed that nobody was there yet. In the main room, where the two girls could see a dais, Tomoe caught the sight of a blond young woman who was talking into her phone and indicated her to Maria. They were heading towards her when the young woman noticed them and quickly ended her conversation. She smiled a dazzling smile at them:

"Hi there. My name's Ashley Strew, who might you be?"

"My name's Tomoe Tachibana and this is Maria Torres", the ninja answered gracefully, with one of her own smile. Maria wondered where those two women learned how to smile like that.

"Oh! You're that famous paramedic who saved all the people from that crashing bus. It's so nice meeting you!" Ashley said, extending her hand. Maria, a bit surprised but happy, shook it, before turning to face Tomoe and form the word "famous" with her lips. Tomoe smiled at her friend.

"Oh huh, but maybe you could tell us who you are? A paramedic, maybe?" Maria asked the blond woman.

"Oh, sorry! No I'm not a paramedic, I'm a fireman, but to be honest with you, I'm more of a ' fire woman'." She laughed at her little joke, and Maria and Tomoe laughed with her.

"You're working with the firemen? Wow, that's dangerous!" But in fact Maria was impressed, she had hesitated a lot when she had been younger. She had chosen medicine over working with the firemen, eventually.

"Yeah! They're all arrogant guys, but I like working with them. I mean, it's not because I'm a girl that I can't do what I like, even if it's dangerous. And I like danger and saving lives. So it was a job for me, even with all those morons!"

"That's the same for me!" Maria exclaimed, happy to have found someone, moreover a woman, who was just like her.

As they were talking, people were beginning to arrive in the little theatre. A lot of them were young, about twenty years old, but there were also old guys who looked like to be seriously annoyed, even if it didn't even begin.

When she saw all the people, Ashley said: " I think it's about to begin. Well, good luck Maria. And don't be stressed." And with that, she left the two doctors before probably going to see her comrades. Tomoe wished good luck to Maria as well, and left to find herself a seat.

Maria looked around her, and grew a little worried when she saw the mass of the people who was waiting for her to… to tell them some stupid things about bravery, team spirit, and assurance. _Okay, okay,_ she thought, _now relax, you can do it. Be yourself! _

She looked through her public once more, searching for Tomoe. Suddenly, in the middle of her search she frowned.

_Wait…What? Isn't it…? Impossible, it can't be **him** !_

_

* * *

_

"Oh Hank! Thanks God you're still here!"

"Chief? What happened? What's wrong?" Hank was really surprised, he was supposed to have his afternoon off, and he was planning to meet with Claire at the mall. To do some shopping. Guys were supposed to hate shopping, but that wasn't the case for him. Shopping was different of the atmosphere of his work at the hospital, and spending time with Claire was truly relaxing.

A lot of people in the hospital were joking about the two of them, including his friends. Well except Tomoe. She was the first, with Esha Patel, who saw that something was going on between him and Claire. She was the first one who noticed how happy he truly was, when he was spending time with her.

"There has been a huge accident. There are too much patients, and the nearest hospital is asking us to help them." Well he was supposed to have his afternoon off, but not if there was an emergency.

"Alright Chief, I'm preparing for the operation."

"You'll be operating on a 45-year old woman and on her 10-year old son. Gabe will assist you. He's actually notifying their family." Hank nodded, already focused on the operation. He sent a short message to Claire, telling her it was an emergency; she would understand.

He arrived in the OR. The woman was already on the bed, waiting to be saved. Gabriel arrived soon after, and Hank began the operation.

The diagnostician helped him a lot by retrieving the shards of glass when it was needed. If the kid had been in the hospital, he would've been the one who would have helped him. His first patient, the woman, had a several broken bones and some of the fractures were severe. Fortunately, Hank was a great surgeon and it went without major problems. Then he began operating on her son. He had several bones fractured just like his mother, as well as some trauma injuries at his head, however the paramedics had done their job well, and Hank was sure he would recover, slower than his mother, but he would recover nonetheless.

He quickly ended the operation, thankful that the Chief hadn't brought him more patients. He had to fill their charts as their surgeon, a thing he intended to do until he stopped when he noticed his patients' names.

Marilyn and Jeremy Blunt.

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**I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that you'll leave me a review! :)**

**Next chapter: LG, Naomi and her pregnancy. Maria and old friends. And maybe CR-S01. **

**See you! :)**


	3. Good day or bad day?

**Hi, I'm sorry for the slight delay, I've had a hard time between school and writing! :) Don't expect the next chapter before Wednesday next week or even the next week end! **

**I give my thanks to all the people who were kind enough to review so far (please don't stop!^^), to all the people who put this story in their favorite lists, and to all the readers. And I give many many thanks to risefromgrace16, who is taking the time to correct all the mistakes I'm doing! Thank you!**

**DISCLAIMER: Except for Jason Hodge and Ashley Strew, I own nothing in this story!**

**Last thing, I'm writing how old are the characters are for me, just so you know. **

**CR-S01 and Tomoe: 26, Maria: 27, Gabe: 35-36, Hank: 38, Naomi: 32-33**

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**Chapter 3: Good day or bad day?**

A heavy silence filled the room. Naomi was staring at her computer, and Navel, who had arrived five minutes ago, was fidgeting a bit.

"So, um… Where's Alyssa today?"

Naomi glared at him and he looked away, before she finally decided to answer him:

"She was starting school today. It's her first day since her surgery."

"Oh, I see… That's nice…", Navel didn't know what to answer.

Naomi sighed. She had discovered the truth last night. Before adopting Alyssa, she didn't even know if she wanted children. Then she adopted the young girl, and just a month later, she was pregnant.

She was going to be a mother for the second time, with a little baby. Alyssa was already eight when she was adopted, but this baby was going to be way younger than her.

Her first thought was to call Gabe. As a diagnostician who saw pregnant women, he would know what to do. But she hadn't done it, she hadn't been able to take her phone.

"Doctor…?" She lifted her head to look at Little Guy. He continued to speak: "Are you sure… that… that…"

"That you're the father? Yes, I'm sure. I'll tell you something, you were the first guy I slept with for a year, at least."

"And… what are you gonna do? Are you going to keep it…?"

She stared at him intensely for a few seconds before sighing and answering him :

"I… don't know. I don't think I'm ready for this. I became a mother a month ago. It's already difficult with Alyssa and my job, so with another child? I really don't know. And…"

"? And?"

"It will also depends on you", she said.

"Me?" He was surprised, it's not like she was often listening to him.

"Yes… What decisions you're gonna take. What you'll do with me and your work."

Navel sighed heavily. Life was a bitch sometimes.

"I don't know if that will help, Doctor, but… I'll be with you, no matter what you decide…"

Naomi eyed him mockingly, and when he noticed it, he frowned:

"What?"

"You'd be ready to stay with me during the pregnancy and to help me? I'm sorry, but I've trouble believing this…"

"And why not?", he asked her, angry this time.

"Because you're unable to take decisions or assume them. Delphi for example," it was the first she was pronouncing the name of the organization, "You faked your way into the FBI. They don't even know what your past is and what crimes you've committed!"

"Alright! I agree, I made a stupid decision when I decided to work for them, but I've never killed anyone. My job consisted in finding doctors to help them, doctors like you, and to assist Professor Blackwell in his experiments. But YOU also worked with them. I'm not the only one!"

"I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know the purpose of the organization, because trust me that, if I had known, I would've never agreed to help _your_ organization."

They were both angry at each other. Naomi was glaring at him and Navel had clenched his fists, his eyes flashing fires in her direction. He tried to calm down. There was no use in getting angry at the forensic doctor, because he knew that if he lost his temper, she would won. She always won.

"Doctor, I ask that you please calm down. We're both adults, and we should be able to resolve this…problem… without yelling at each other."

"This is all your fault," she hissed. Navel lost his temper.

"How can you be SO immature? This is also YOUR responsibility. I was not the only one who conceived this child! I admit it, I didn't have any condoms on me this fateful night! However, why aren't YOU on the pill? Now that's…" He couldn't finish because Naomi had stood up and slapped him. Hard.

A heavy silence filled the room once more, but this time Navel didn't try to speak to her. He turned back and headed for the door of her office. He didn't look at her as he opened it and left.

Naomi sat back in her chair, sighing. A part of her knew that it wasn't entirely his fault, however a bigger part couldn't admit it, and even less to him. She lowered her head into her hands and sighed again.

She was wondering what she would tell her Chief about her pregnancy when her phone rang. She was surprised when she didn't recognize the number. She answered with a short:

"Hello?"

"Hey Naomi. How are you?"

This voice… She knew this voice. The last time she had heard this voice was when she had consulted him about her disease, at…

"Derek?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They were all looking at her. All of them. And the vision of _him_ didn't help her to relax.

But the sooner it would begin, the sooner it would end. So she swallowed hard and began speaking:

"Oh…um… Hi! My name's Maria Torres, and I'm a paramedic at Resurgam First Care. Your bosses asked me to… well… to tell you a few things about how we are supposed to save people's lives. I'm not… huh… going to teach you the first response movements 'cause you're supposed to know them, and if it ain't the case then that means you've got nothing to do in that place." There were some laughs in the public, and Maria allowed herself to smile. That was an easier thing to do than she thought.

"I think some of you might have worked with me at least once or twice in the past, and that's why you are surely laughing at me when I'm saying that everyone working together is important in this job. Because we're saving real lives, and there is only one chance to save them, because otherwise it's…game over.

For instance, the bus that crashed in Harbor Mall could have resulted in many deaths alone, but all our paramedics and firemen worked together and a lot of the patients were saved. Also, I'm not exactly all for teamwork, but still I'd say that this is important as well. So to sum up, what I'd like to make you realize is that trusting and believing in your comrades is the better way for you to help patients and to save their lives. That's all I've got to say."

Ashley Strew was the first one to stand up and applaud Maria. All the others followed her soon, and Maria was really touched. She saw Tomoe smiling at her and applauding her as well, and she knew that her friend was proud of her.

Then people came at her, asking questions, and she was trying her best to answer them while Tomoe was speaking with Ashley and some of her friends.

Suddenly when she thought that it was all over, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to face the stranger and suddenly she blushed. If Gabriel had been here he would've joked, it was rare to see her blushing.

She knew she had to say something but her brain had apparently decided to take sudden and indefinite leave. All she could say was:

"H…Hi Jason."

The guy smiled at her before answering, "Hi Maria. It's been a while."

Maria tried to return the smile and thought, _Okay, apparently he hasn't changed a bit, so that's alright. Now be yourself, Maria._

She felt relieved when she noticed that she wasn't blushing anymore.

"Um…What are you doing here, Jason? You're a fireman too?"

He laughed at her question, but not of a condescending laugh, or a mocking laugh, it was _his_ laugh. He always has had the same laugh, as far as Maria remembered.

"No, no! In fact, I know Ashley Strew, over here, and she told me about the doctor Maria Torres who was supposed to make a speech for all the new firemen and paramedics. And I thought 'is it possible that this doctor Torres is in fact Maria Torres from the orphanage?', so I decided to come and see myself, and it is you indeed. I'm so happy to see you again, and now I learn that you've become a great doctor! Congratulations!"

Maria smiled in modesty, "Oh, well thank you. It's really nothing. But what about you? What are you doing, now? What's new in your life?"

"Oh well I'm a journalist, but that's not very interesting. About my life, well…my last girlfriend and I broke up a week ago, because I found out that she was seeing another man."

Maria winced, "Oww! I'm so sorry for you. How do you feel?"

"Nah, don't worry! I'm fine now that I'm able to see you again!" He said, still smiling at her.

_It sounds like he's flirting with me_, she thought blushing again,_ say something, you idiot!_ Then she noticed Tomoe and called her. The Japanese doctor understood that something was going on, and approached Jason and Maria.

" Jason, this is Tomoe Tachibana, a friend who is working with me at the hospital, she's the best endoscopist surgeon in America", Maria said introducing them at each other and punching Tomoe slightly, "Tomoe, this is Jason Hodge, a friend of mine, from the orphanage. He's a journalist."

"It's nice to meet you," Tomoe said, extending her hand. Jason shook it and smiled at her. Tomoe didn't seem the slightest perturbed by the man's smile, at least Maria hoped. However the endoscopist surgeon had noticed that Jason Hodge seemed to be more than a friend for Maria. And he apparently wanted to talk to Maria privately, so she decided to leave them alone, that's why she told them that she would be waiting for Maria outside. She left quickly after that.

"So, um… What are you doing tomorrow evening?", Jason asked the paramedic doctor.

"Huh? Oh!" It was the first time someone was asking her on a date, and she was really surprised and happy. "I don't think I'm doing anything. I'm not on emergency guard duty, so there should be no problem."

"Great, I'll come fetch you at 8 p.m then."

"Al…Alright!"

He kissed her on the cheek and waved her goodbye.

[…]

**_Later_**

"**WHAT**?"

Gabriel Cunningham clogged his ears.

"If this is a joke, this isn't funny!" Maria yelled.

Gabe waited for a few seconds before answering her:

"Calm down, tigress, it's not my fault. It was him who chose the evenings he wanted to be out of jail. It's not my fault if he chose tomorrow night!"

"Well then, I won't be there! I'll see him at another moment, I'm sure he won't get mad. It's not like he's able to get mad at someone, anyway. And Tomoe?"

"Yes?", answered the endoscopist surgeon.

"W…Will you help me with getting ready ? I mean, because it's my first da—," she stopped looking at Gabe. Maria was sure that, if he knew, he wouldn't be able to shut it and she didn't want to listen to his cynical comments. "You see what I mean…"

The Japanese girl nodded.

"Well then, okay. See you tomorrow morning then guys!" Maria said before leaving the room. When she had left, Gabriel turned to face Tomoe:

"Someone asked her on a date, huh?"

"Yes. A old friend of her. I had never seen her like that. His name's Jason Hodge, he seems to have some Spanish origins, just like Maria. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He's a journalist, and he's a friend of her from the orphanage." Tomoe said, chuckling a bit.

"What do you think of him?" Hank asked, joining the conversation.

"Well…It's difficult to say because I only saw him very briefly. But…"

"But?" Gabriel encouraged her.

"I don't know…I'm not sure. There is something I can't put the finger on…However, I shouldn't say that; it's against the way of honor to judge someone without knowing them…"

Hank and the diagnostician exchanged a look, and the orthopedic surgeon put a hand on her shoulder:

"Don't worry. We all know how Maria is when it comes to choosing friends. All the friends she has are real friends worrying for her, just like us."

"Yeah, and from what I understood, she seems to have quite the crush on him. You know how she is, I'm sure she'll be careful. It's not like it's her first date or anything", Gabriel said, shrugging.

Tomoe and Hank stared at him, surprised. Gabriel saw their looks and exclaimed:

"WHAT? It's her first date? But she's 27 years old!"

Tomoe and Hank chuckled at the diagnostician's bewilderment.

"No way! I was like 17 when I went on my first date. How old were you Tomoe? And you Hank? Even Naomi, who is as serious as hell in her work, did have several boyfriends. I'm sure that the kid himself—", he interrupted himself, before correcting his sentence, "Well maybe not the kid…"

Hank and Tomoe were now clearly laughing and he began chuckling too, still not believing what he had just heard.

"I went on my first date when I was 18 years old. And what a date! I had to tell my father I was feeling sick, so that I could be excused for the dinner, and then we had to escape the Tachibana Home", Tomoe told them.

"Wow, impressive! But isn't that a bit dishonorable?"

Tomoe smiled, "No. Because one day, one of my ancestors said that it was absolutely normal and honorable to 'try on the merchandise before buying it'."

"I see", Gabe said, "that's why you were opposed to your father when he tried to set you up with another guy…"

"Yes… What about you Dr. Freebird?"

"Well, my first date was when I was in the Army. She was a nurse and was of the same age as me. It was her who made me think about becoming a doctor, in a way."

"What about the kid, do you think he might have had at least a girlfriend, too?"

Tomoe and Hank thought about it for half minute, before answering the diagnostician:

"Honestly," Hank began, "I don't think so."

"Neither do I", Tomoe agreed, "The incident at Cumberland happened eight years ago, he was only eighteen by then. Just like me."

Gabriel nodded, "Yeah I don't think either."

He sighed and stretched himself, yawning. "I think that everything is said, then. Maria is going on her first date tomorrow, the kid has the evening out and has never gone on a date, and Naomi is pregnant."

Tomoe and Hank jumped a bit at this comment:

"What?", they shouted in unison.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The aformentioned Naomi was driving to her daughter's school to pick her up. She had taken her afternoon off, well actually she had been forced to do so because Chief Wayne had caught her vomiting, and even if she hadn't told him she was pregnant, he had decided that it was for the best if she was to relax at home.

That was why she was a bit angry, but not only that. She also had had a call of an old friend of hers, Derek Stiles, who had told her that Caduceus Europe and USA had heard about her recovery and wanted to see her and if that was possible the surgeon who had operated on her.

And Naomi was a bit worried. She knew why they wanted to see the young surgeon. The possibility of another surgeon with the Healing Touch, even if she knew he didn't have it, was too tempting for them. At least for Caduceus Europe. In fact, Sidney Kasal wasn't really interested by the Healing Touch, he was going because Derek was interested to meet CR-S01 as well. Caduceus Europe would do everything to make him accept their offer. And she didn't want him to accept. And she knew Gabe would be firmly opposed to this as well.

She was waiting for Alyssa in front of the school when her phone rang. Expecting Derek, she didn't check the number on the phone.

"Yes? It's Naomi."

Silence answered her.

"Hello?"

"Hmph…I…It's…"

"Little Guy?" She wasn't really surprised, she knew he would have called her back, anyway.

"Yes…. It is…I."

"Are you sure it's you?" she said mockingly. "You don't sound like your usual self." She heard a sigh at the other side of the line.

"Doctor… I wanted to say that I'm sorry. A…about earlier, I mean about this morning." He waited for a response, however she didn't say anything.

"I was stupid, you need my help and my presence and I didn't think about you. I'm sorry doctor, I hope that you'll forgive me for my attitude."

"I forgive you…" She said eventually.

"Great! I m…mean thank you, doctor," he said relieved. "Now I'm perfectly ready to help you, I'll be there anytime you'll need me, at any moment, by night and day, and—"

"No", she cut him in his sentence. She also had taken her decision after their little fight.

"N…No? Huh? But…"

"I don't want your help, I can take care of myself."

"No! I mean I can help you, doctor!"

"No! It is as I said after this night. Nobody should and will never know about it. I'm pregnant, I'm keeping the baby, however nobody will know that you're the father, neither that we slept together. You're still my partner in the FBI, however I don't consider you as the father of my child. That's all."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you'll review this chapter! :)**

**Next chapter: Hank and the patients he has operated on, CR-S01 and his first night out. A little of Maria and maybe a little of Derek and Angie.**

**See you guys! :)**


	4. New realities

**Hi there guys. I apologize for the huge delay. I mean I should have updated two weeks ago, so I'm really sorry. Life had been like Hell for me. But if you want to know I've already begun writing chapter 5, where the troubles for the characters begin. It should be up sooner than this one!^^**

**As always huge thanks to all of those who reviewed the last chapter. And many many special thanks to risefromgrace16 who took the time to correct all my mistakes, even if she has a lot of work to do!**

**DISCLAIMER: Except for Marilyn, Jeremy, Molly, Thornton and the stupid man who hurt CR-S01 who belong to me, all the other characters belong to ATLUS.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: New realities **

Hank was preparing to leave Resurgam. The operation had been successful and he had learned that Naomi was pregnant. It had been a tiring day.

"Please let me know! I'm a doctor as well! I don't care if it's late I want to see them. Where are my wife and child!"

A man was apparently yelling at the poor secretary of the entrance. When he arrived there, he saw a man probably in his early 50s, and a teenage girl, probably his daughter.

The secretary was apparently very scared, Hank knew she was new at this. She tried to tell him that visits were impossible at that hour, but the man didn't care. Hank decided he had to help her.

"I'm sorry, sir, do you need anything?"

The man turned to face him, and Hank stared at him for a moment. He looked like to be in a good situation, because his suit was absolutely perfect, and he had a _giant_ watch on his wrist. Everything in him claimed that he was someone important. The girl at his side, was maybe 13 or 14, but no more. She looked like to be very anxious, Hank noticed. She looked at him with her purple eyes, the same eyes her father had, the same eyes … _Claire _had…

_Oh my god…_ Hank thought, _don't tell me he's her father, the husband and father of the two patients I operated on earlier…_

Claire had never told him about her father. He knew her mother because he had met her. She looked a lot like Claire, but in her blue eyes, much more different than her daughter's, he saw sadness all the time and sometimes anger, just like Claire's eyes were before she and him became closer to each other. He believed that Erika, Claire's mother, had been hurt much more, if that was even possible, than Claire had been.

This man, in front of him, had caused all this anger and sadness, and had cause his own daughter to commit suicide. Hank felt a wave of anger in him as well, and he tried to calm down, remembering Tomoe's reaction about Jason, and the way she decided not to judge him because she didn't know him.

"Who are you?" the man in front of him snapped.

"I'm a doctor in this hospital, who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for my wife and my son, they've been caught in an accident this afternoon."

"Um, I see who you are talking about. I operated on them, they're both resting right now. You don't have to worry," Hank told him, hoping he would stop yelling. He noticed that the young teenager seemed relieved a little bit, and he smiled. She shyly smiled back at the giant doctor.

"I want to see them."

"I'm sorry but that's impossible, come back tomorrow."

"I'm a doctor, I can even help support if it means that I can see my wife and my son, o don't you dare stop me."

So the man was a doctor, that explained the perfect suit and the watch. The man apparently wasn't going to get out before seeing his wife and son, and Hank was too calm, and too nice to tell him to go screw himself, just like Gabriel would have done.

"Hey what's going on here? This is a hospital, what makes you think you can go being as loud as you are right now?"

Chief Esha Patel had arrived, alarmed by the noise. She saw Hank, the man and the girl, and decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Who are you?", she asked them.

The man sighed and the girl didn't say anything. Her father decided to answer the Chief.

"My name's Thornton Blunt, and this is my daughter Molly. We're here to see Marilyn and Jeremy Blunt. I work in a hospital in New-York, so please allow us to see them."

Esha considered it. Then she took her decision:

"I'm very sorry, but it has been a complicated operation, and I think that they should rest for now. If you want, we'll tell them you came, but I cannot let you enter before tomorrow at 11 a.m. Please you're a doctor, believe me when I'm telling you they're alright."

Mr. Blunt apparently decided to admit defeat.

"I'm the surgeon who operated on them, I assure you they're alright. They will recover from their injuries, I promise."

Hank's words made their effect. Mr. Blunt nodded at Hank, and he left soon after, taking his daughter with him.

[…]

_**The next day**_

"So he was here, right? Why didn't you let him enter? I thought he hadn't heard what happened to us…"

Marilyn Blunt was, from what the doctor could see, a very frail and weak woman. The accident she had been caught in had apparently made her even more vulnerable. Jeremy was feeling alright. He was small and seemed to be just like her mother, shy, not talkative, and well-educated.

When Hank compared them with Mr. Blunt, he had difficulty realizing that they were related.

His phone began to ring. He looked at the number and bit his lips, it was Claire's number.

"Yes. It's Dr. Freebird," he answered.

"_Hey Doc, it's me."_

"Yes, hi."

"_? Is something the matter? You don't sound happy."_

"No, no I'm alright. I'm sorry about yesterday."

"_Don't worry, your job is important, I understand. How about this afternoon, then? Your Chief must allow you to take a break, don't you think?" _He heard her mocking tone, and smiled. Claire was really something.

"Yeah you're right, I'll ask her."

_"How about the patients you operated, are they alright?"_

"Yes they are. Don't worry."

"_Me worrying? No way Doc! I hope they're alright because they've made you cancel our meeting at the mall yesterday."_ She chuckled at the other side of the line, and the doctor laughed at her comment too.

At this moment, the door opened loudly, and Mr. Blunt and his daughter entered the room.

_"Huh? What's going on? It sounded like an elephant entered the room…"_

"Oh, huh… Can I call you back?" Hank asked her, being careful not to pronounce her name, and wanting to hung up, so that she woudn't heard her father's name. He doubted that there were a lot of men called "Thornton".

"_Yeah sure. You'll tell me if you're free this afternoon."_

"Yes. See you."

"_See you Doc."_ And she hung up.

Mr. Blunt's eyes flashed fires: "Who were you talking to?"

"Just a friend." Hank's answer was short and precise. Then, the doctor stood up, declared he had to see his Chief, and told his patients that he would see them soon. After that, he opened the door and left them.

Gabriel was walking alone in the corridor.

"Hey Big Guy, good morning."

"Good morning Gabe."

"Hey you okay? You seems a bit stressed this morning. Oh, by the way, are you coming with us for the kid's first night out?"

"Yes I think I will. I'm looking forward to it." Hank replied, not answering the first question, hoping he wouldn't notice it. Unfortunately, the diagnostician wasn't stupid.

"What's wrong?"

Hank sighed and decided to tell him:

"Well this man is the father of Claire, and well, he abandoned her and she's not over it, yet. If she discovers that I've met him and didn't tell her, she'll be angry. And… I…I don't want to lose her."

The diagnostician lifted an eyebrow mockingly:

"Well, well. I had never thought I'd see the day when our big guy falls in love with one of his old patients. It's quite funny actually."

"No, I… No! I'm not…"

"Why are you even worrying about it? If she loves you too, she won't be mad about seeing her old man after all this time."

Hank didn't say anything… and was hit by Maria running so fast that she was almost invisible.

"Wow," Gabriel said, "I'm happy I'm not Tomoe. I'm sure she'll spend the entire day being dragged around by a ** stressed Maria. Women are so weird."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"OH my GOD! I don't know what I'm gonna wear. Don't you have any idea, because yeah I've brought some clothes but I don't know if that suits me or if it's not for me and if he'll like it and…"

"M…Maria," Tomoe tried to talk but she couldn't. She knew something like that would happen when she agreed to help Maria, but still, it was not what she has expected. The doctor was a different woman right now, running and agitating everywhere, scaring a lot of people too.

"Woah Woah WOAH! Stop it Torres, or I'm punching you!"

Maria and Tomoe turned to see Esha Patel, scowling at them.

"It's a hospital, we're not in a mall or in the street! You're a doctor, behave properly!"

Tomoe bit her lips to avoid smiling, because she knew Esha wasn't really mad, she was doing it for the patients. Maria put a hand behind her head and smiled shyly.

"I'm sorry, Chief, it's just… I am so excited!"

"Really? What happened?"

"Well, in fact it happened yesterday when I went for the speech, ya know, the one you…"

Tomoe smiled at her friend's happiness, it was rare to see her in that state. She was a nice woman, and people tended to judge her on her appearance, but she was fond of her job and always happy to help.

"Huh… Doctor Tachibana?"

Tomoe turned to face Emma:

"Yes Nurse Wilson?"

"There is a lady here for you, she says you called her apparently. She's the mother of Joshua Cunningham."

"Oh, that's right." When he had left the hospital, the convict surgeon had let her take care of Joshua and Alyssa's recoveries. She had operated with her endoscope on Joshua last week, to make sure everything was alright – because Dr. Cunningham had told her to check his son's condition at least three times- and they were probably here to discuss a new operation.

She said goodbye to Maria, who barely noticed her, because she was still talking with the Chief.

Well it was going to be an interesting day.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

The car bringing the convict surgeon entered the entrance of Resurgam. Holden, opened the door and uncuffed CR-S01. Tomoe and Hank were waiting for him a few meters away.

When he didn't feel the cuffs on his wrists anymore, he took a look around and smiled. This place had changed him for the better.

Hank waved at him, and Tomoe smiled. CR-S01 threw a look at Holden, as if he was asking for permission, and Holden nodded.

Gabriel Cunnigham appeared suddenly, and smiled too, but of his own smile, that meant a bit mockingly. And of course, with a cigarette between his lips.  
CR-S01 didn't see Maria, nor Naomi but decided it didn't matter because all the others were here.

"Hi kid, nice to see you out of this icebox!"

"Hi doctor, I hope you're alright and ready for this evening."

"Hehehe, it looks like it's going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it."

CR-S01 smiled shyly at them. Those doctors had been the only ones who didn't look at the fact he might have caused the Cumberland incident. Maria and a few others did think he was responsible at first, but then changed their minds.

"Where… are we going?"

"Hahahaha, you'll see that, kid. We all thought of something. You don't have any memories of this city, don't you?"

CR-S01 made no with his head.

"Well then," said Hank, "shall we go? By the way where are you sleeping tonight?"

"Huh? Oh I think I'll sleep in my room, i…in the hospital."

"Oh right, I forgot, sorry. Well then let's go."

"Wait, where is Maria?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry but Maria has other projects for tonight. She's really sorry," Tomoe told him trying to find excuses for her friend.

"As for Naomi," the diagnostician said, "she discovered yesterday that she was pregnant, and she still has some problems with it, so…"

Tomoe chuckled a bit and told Hank, "Remind me to never tell him my secrets, the whole hospital would know about it in less than a day."

"What?" Gabe exclaimed while Hank was laughing, "No way! I'm able to keep a secret, I assure you! Tomoe, you're sounding exactly like RONI, you know that?"

CR-S01 chuckled a bit too. His mood always changed drastically every time he was with them.

After the little argument, they all left Resurgam.

"So where are we going first?"

"Well, how about some dinner? I'm so hungry. "

" Well we decided to go in a pizzeria for dinner."

"That sounds great." Gabriel stared with amusement at the young man who had just talked.

"You don't know what it is, right?"

CR-S01 looked at him, then looked away before shooking his head "no", his cheeks beginning to turn red.

Gabriel laughed at his reaction.

"Don't worry kid, it's alright. We all know that you still haven't a lot of memories, but don't lie to us, okay?"

"I'm sorry…"

"That's okay," Hank said while Tomoe nodded, "it must be hard for you. We understand."

[…]

Tomoe had booked a table for four. Hank liked the place; once or twice he had brought Claire here.

They quickly ordered their meal. Gabriel noticed the way CR-S01 was looking around him. Always with curiosity, sometimes with amazement. He wondered how someone could be that naïve but still be an awesome surgeon, like the kid was. He also wondered how affected by the Rosalia Virus Prof. Sartre must have been to be able to erase his son's memories without a look back.

_Poor kid, he had been through so much_, he thought, and Gabriel Cunningham didn't often feel sympathy for someone else than him.

CR-S01 rediscovered everything, and none of those things brought back any memories. He had hoped so; the lack of his memories made him feel weak and frail. He only had memories of Rosalia and Pr. Sartre, and of his late parents who died in a car accident a long time ago.

"And here are your pizzas. Enjoy the meal!" the waiter said, putting four pizzas on the table.

They chatted while eating, and the young surgeon found actually pretty good this "pizza" thing.

After they were done eating, Gabriel paid and they left the restaurant.

"Hey does someone want a coffee? I want one actually."

CR-S01, Tomoe and Hank accepted Gabe's proposition. The diagnostician and Hank left to go search some places where they could buy coffee. Tomoe and the young surgeon stayed behind.

"How many years do you have to work off of your sentence?"

"Huh? Oh, well… I think I've got 180 years left. I think in maybe a year or two, I would work out all of it…"

"And then what will you do?"

"I… don't know."

"Well the Chief told me to tell you that she will be happy to accept you again in the hospital."

"Yes," he smiled, "I want to work back in Resurgam, to work with all of you. It's like a home to me."

Tomoe didn't say anything; it was rare to hear him talk like that. Her phone rang at this instant, it was Hank. She listened to what he said for a short moment, then she hung up.

"Alright", she said, "they are waiting for us in the mall. Follow me."

They arrived at the mall two minutes later. While searching for Gabriel and Hank, CR-S01 looked all around him. It was still new for him. That's why he didn't see the man in front of him, well built, with a lot of tattoos on his body, not being particularly nice at first sight.

The kind of guy you don't want to run into or to anger if you were normal.

But the young surgeon didn't see him, and he bumped into the man.

"I…I'm sorry…I…"

"Can't you see where you're walking, you moron?"

"I'm sorry but…"

"But what? Whaddya want, man?" The stranger said, grabbing his arm, while the surgeon tried to escape.

"You ain't gonna tell me you didn't see me, right? I'm a lot bigger than you. Or maybe it's because you wanted to feel proud, thinking I ain't gonna notice?"

"No…! No! I…"

"Too bad for you, buddy, I'm not in the mood!" The stairs were close, the surgeon noticed. He felt scared right now, he had never been one to search conflict. Tomoe was nowhere in sight, nor were Dr. Freebird and Dr. Cunningham.

The last thing CR-S01 knew was when his head made contact with the pavement and when he lost consciousness.

[…]

CR-S01 heard someone growl. He heard other voices too.

"… _think he'll be okay?"_

"_Yes, I do. Fortunately you were here at the right time."_

"_Yes, thanks God. He could have been pretty bad injured."_

"_I'm going to try waking him. Hey kid… Kid?"_

The young surgeon slowly opened his eyes. He had a headache, and understood that the one who had growled earlier was him.

"Well at least he isn't dead." Dr. Cunningham's voice.

"Are you okay, doctor?" Dr. Tachibana's voice, full of worry.

" Wh…what happened?"

"Well…," Dr. Freebird's voice, "You were pushed onto the stairs by some stupid man. Fortunately, Tomoe was here and spotted your fall, but you still hit your head."

That explained the headache.

"Alright, try to stand up now, kid."

He did and faced Tomoe. She still seemed worried.

"I'm so sorry Doctor, I shouldn't have left you out of my sight. You got yourself into trouble."

"No…, don't worry, that's okay. " He said. "It's my fault, I should have watched where…"

"Now, now, it's nobody's fault. It's this guy's fault, because he's a moron and bigger than you," the diagnotician said.

"Maybe… we should get back to Resurgam", Hank proposed, "I think it's enough for tonight."

Gabriel nodded and asked the young surgeon if he could walk. CR-S01 nodded, even if the ground was still moving around him.

They weren't far from Resurgam, but they walked slowly because CR-S01 was still suffering from his fall. Hank and Tomoe left Gabriel in charge of the surgeon, and the diagnostician brought back the kid to his cell. At some point he laughed, when the kid almost lost his balance.

"You looks like a two-year-old who is learning to walk."

"That's not funny!" CR-S01 snapped back.

"Nah, don't worry, I'm not mocking you. I just… noticed." Gabriel told him while he put him on his bed.

When he was lying on his couch, the diagnostician stood up, and sighed: "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yes… Thank you."

"I'll bring you some aspirins for you head, alright?"

"Thank you. I'm going to be okay."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that. Wait two minutes for me."

But when the diagnostician came back, the young surgeon was sleeping peacefully. That was his first night out, it was normal that even a brillant surgeon like him was exhausted.

Gabriel left the medicine and the glass of water near his bed, and then left his cell, not closing behind him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"What a night, huh?" Hank said to Tomoe.

"Indeed. But I'm glad we've been through it somehow. I think it was something that needed to be done."

"I agree. And… Huh?"

"Huh?" Tomoe turned around and saw Claire, Hank's friend who was coming this way.

"Hey Doc. I mean Docs."

"Hi Claire."

"Good evening, Miss Blunt." Tomoe said before noticing Gabriel making signs to her.

"So how was your evening?" She asked Hank in particular.

"It was nice… but why are you here?"

Claire lifted an eyebrow at Hank's comment, "What, aren't you happy that I'm here? I thought I would've surprised you."

"Yes, you did… Is something wrong?"

"What? No, of course not! You know I don't come here because something is wrong. Jeez… What's with you, Doc? This morning already you sounded pretty defensive!" The young woman said, frowning.

"No, no. Nothing is wrong. I… hmm… I'm glad to see you."

"Humph, finally you're saying it!"

Hank smiled at her. "So why are you here?"

"Well, since I didn't surprise you and that you couldn't come this afternoon, I thought you'd be okay with a little chat this evening."

"I'm okay with the idea."

"Well then, let's go."

"Alright," the orthopedic surgeon said, before saying goodbye to Tomoe and Gabriel who were still discussing.

While they were heading towards the exit of the hospital, Claire took one of Hank's big arms and smiled at him. He returned the smile, absolutely happy.

"Oh Doctor Freebird, you're still here. My wife says her leg hurts a little. It would be kind of you to see what's wrong."

_Oh no_, Hank thought.

Claire turned her head to see who was talking and froze, absolutely shocked.

"D…dad?"

The man stopped too when he recognized the girl standing at the orthopedic surgeon's sides.

"Claire?"

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**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. In the next chapter you'll have a little bit of all the characters, because troubles kind of begin. So next chapter will be about Naomi, CR-S01, Maria, Hank, Derek and Angie who are the special guests for the next chapter.^^**

**Please guys, let me a review to tell me what you think! :3**

**See you!**


	5. Beginning of troubles

**Hi guys! I've updated faster than the last time! I'm quite happy with this chapter, I think it turned out just the way I wanted.^^ **

**As always huge thanks to my reviewers and to all my readers, and many many special thanks to risefromgrace16, who is taking the time to read my chapter and correct all my mistakes!**

**DISCLAIMER: Any recognizable character? Well they belong to ATLUS. All the characters you didn't know before reading this story are mine.**

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**Chapter 5: Beginning of troubles**

_**The next day**_

Maria was happy. She was in a different bed, looking at the ceiling. For the first time in her life, she didn't want to get out of bed. Every morning, she liked getting up to work at Resurgam. There she spent her time with Tomoe, Hank, and Gabe. At other times, she rushed in head-first to save patients' lives. Every day was worth it.

But right now, Maria Torres was even more happy with the man in the bed with her. Jason opened his blue eyes and looked in her direction and smiled. _Damn,_ she thought, _he has the most beautiful smile ever._ He turned on his side to kiss her on the lips, then he began stroking her hair.

"What are you doing, today?"

"Well, normally I should go to Resurgam and do my business, but… I don't want to. What about you?"

"I should go working too, but I think I'm gonna call and say I'm sick, because I don't want either."

"Yeah… maybe I should do that…" And she really considered it… If there was a problem, they could always call her like they always do.

"I think that's what I'm gonna do…" she told him. After all, she was always the one who saved the others. She had deserved a bit of calm and love.

**XOXOXXOXOOXOXOXOXO**

CR-S01 woke up in his cell. His headache had gone down. He first showered, and waited for his breakfast. Before the virus attack, when he was working here, Tomoe was usually the one who brought his meals and who stayed with him while he ate.

He waited and nobody went to bring him something to eat. _Maybe it's too early_, he thought. He approached the bars of his cell and saw that the door was unlocked. Dr. Cunningham hadn't closed the door last night.

He put one of his hands on the handle and opened the door of his cell. Everything was calm in the corridor. CR-S01 remembered at this moment why he loved silence. It soothed him, and helped him concentrate and relax.

"Ah, good morning doctor."

CR-S01 turned around to see Tomoe Tachibana who was walking in his direction. She didn't seem surprised that he was out of his cell and alone.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you…"

She smiled and led him towards the cafeteria of the hospital where he could get something to eat.

"Doctor Tachibana… Did you sleep here?" He found it odd that she was the first one here when nobody else was.

"Oh, yes I did. There… there was a little problem here yesterday evening, after you fell asleep."

"A problem?" He asked, curious.

"Well… It is about Doctor Freebird."

"Is he alright?"

"Um… not really."

Hank woke up and found himself in Gabriel's office. He was precisely on the diagnostician's couch. He then felt a pang of sadness. _Yesterday night…_

Hank was feeling totally sad and depressed.

Yesterday night… the meeting between Claire and her father…

_Why did it have to happen like that…?_ He thought.

[…]

**_Yesterday night_**

"_So… it is you! What are you doing here?" Claire asked, anger filling her voice. _

_She turned to face the orthopedic surgeon._

"_What is he doing here?" She asked again, motioning towards her father._

_Hank didn't answer her._

"_Daaad! What are you doing? Mom's complaining!"_

_A young teenager arrived in the room, it was Molly. She stopped when she saw the scene and when she felt the heavy atmosphere in the room. She looked at her father and then at the woman she didn't know but who seemed to be in absolute rage._

"_Who are you?" The young woman snapped at her._

"_I…uh… I'm Molly Blunt…"_

_The woman looked at her father again, her nails digging into her palms._

"_She's your daughter?"_

_Thornton didn't respond._

"_ANSWER ME!"_

_Hank jumped, Claire had never yelled like that. Thornton answered with a simple "Yes"._

"_Ha!" Claire seemed to be on the verge of tears, "So this little brat is your daughter. And you're married too apparently. Well, it seems that life is treating you well! Is she the f*cking sl*t you used to cheat on Mom with?"_

_Hand decided to intervene when he saw Molly's expression and Thornton not answering his eldest daughter. He laid a hand on her shoulder:_

"_Claire—"_

" _Don't TOUCH me!" __And she yanked off his hand after that, then she turned to face the surgeon._

"_YOU! They're the patients you operated on yesterday, aren't they? YOU saved their lives. Why didn't you let them die? WHY? And why didn't you tell me? WHY?" Claire was screaming now and clenching her fists._

"_I…I" Hank didn't know what to say._

"_You knew who they were, d…didn't you? Y…You knew i…it… and still… y…you didn't tell me who they w…were…W…why?" It was evident that she was crying due to the tears rolling down her cheek._

"_I… I didn't want to hurt you. And this had nothing to do with you and—"_

"_Nothing to do with m…me"? She said, sobbing, "He's my father, you know w…what happened with my mother and you… you saved their lives…"_

_Nobody was talking. Tomoe and Gabriel were standing farther. Claire was still sobbing._

_Hank tried to console her but when he touched her again, she pushed him. She stopped crying, and glared at him with all her strength. Her eyes were flashing fires._

"_Don't touch me! I told you I hate liars! Don't EVER approach me again! I… I hate you!"_

_And with that she ran off the room. There was a heavy silence in the room. Gabriel exchanged a look with Tomoe, while Molly was trying to fight back tears. Hank stood there in bewilderment._

_Without a word, Thornton exited the room with Molly. The endoscopist surgeon and the diagnostician approached the giant doctor. _

"_Hey big guy, are you okay?"_

_Tomoe hesitated before talking too, "Doctor… if you want, I'll try to talk to her."_

"_No… It's… I… I need to be alone."_

"_Wha—" _

"_Please…" Hank whispered, "Please leave me alone."_

_Tomoe exchanged a look with Gabriel, who nodded before leaving the room. _

"_I… I'll stay here, doctor Freebird. If you need me, just come to my office." Tomoe said before also leaving the room._

[…]

_**Present time**_

An hour or two after that, Gabe had come to him and led him to his office so that he could sleep.

Claire…

She didn't pick up her calls from him, nor had she bothered to call him back. He hadn't seen his patients since yesterday night, either. It seemed to him that the world was going to end.

HE wanted the world to end, so that he wouldn't see the pain on her face anymore when she had seen her father and saw his happy life whereas hers had been awful since when this man had left her and her mother. He wanted the world to end, so that he wouldn't heard her say that she hated him.

Hank Freebird closed his eyes.

_Claire… please, don't leave me…_

**XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOXO**

"Naomiiiiiiii!"

Alyssa's call resonated through the house.

"Come on! I'm gonna be laaaaate!"

_Well_, Naomi thought, coming out of the bathroom, _at least there is someone happy in this house… and who wants to go to school._

Alyssa's first day at school had been the talk of the evening. She loved everything in the school: food, classrooms, teachers, pupils… She said that everyone was nice and she enjoyed it a lot.

Naomi was happy for her and relieved too, because she had feared that, because of the bomb, the young girl might not have been able to have a normal life. But everything was alright, it seems.

Naomi dropped off Alyssa at school and watched her turn around and wave with a smile on her little face before getting inside.

She smiled, it had only been a month since she had officially become Alyssa's mother, and right now she was pregnant with another child. _What a life_, she thought bitterly. At the moment, she didn't know if she was happy to be pregnant or not. Her phone rang.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, it's me again, how do you feel?"_

She smiled when she heard Derek's voice. She had told him she was pregnant when he had understood that something wasn't right in her voice.

"I'm feeling better. Gabe confimed the symptoms, it's now official that I'm pregnant."

_"Well congratulations are in order then. Oh! I already told Angie and the rest of the staff, so I hope you don't mind. I'm sorry, I stole your big surprise."_

"Don't worry, it's alright. It's not like I wanted them to throw a party for me."

_"You don't?"_

"Derek, if you did make any plans for a party, then cancel them. There won't be any parties."

_"No, no, don't worry, I was kidding."_

"Whatever, Dr. Stiles." She heard him laugh at the end of the line. There was a few seconds of silence because Naomi was concentrating on the road. She was driving to CIFM.

"When are you arriving?" She asked him eventually.

_"Oh well, I should be at Resurgam at the end of the afternoon."_

"Good. I shall see you then. Who will be with you?"

_"Well there will be Angie, Sidney Kasal, Robert Hauffman, Professor Blackwell, Adel Tulba, and Heather Ross. The rest of the staff will come for Caduceus's big reunion in Portland. But normally there also will be Langston Miller. He will be joined by the rest of his staff for the big conference."_

"Ha! Langston Miller, my old chief. I'm not sure I'll be happy to see him. Who's Adel Tulba? And Heather Ross?"

_"Oh, Adel's my student. He considers me as his mentor, I met him in Africa. Heather is a nurse who worked at Caduceus but she left to work in another hospital. But she's here because Chief Miller and others from the Congress wanted to test the young surgeon who saved you with another surgery. He will be operating on Heather's mother so she wanted to be there."_

"It's understandable. So you will propose a job at Caduceus at the young man who saved me?"

_"Yes. Director Hoffman and Chief Miller already called the department of the HHS, and it seems they've made a deal."_

"A deal?"

_"I don't know what it's all about. But right now, there is a conflict between Caduceus Europe and USA because both want the young surgeon. It seems he's absolutely awesome when he's operating."_

"Well he's not you. But he has some incredible skills, I assure you."

_"That's good to hear. Well then, I think I have to load right now, so I'll see you this afternoon."_

"Alright. Have a nice and safe trip."

_"Thank you."_

And they both hung up at the same time. At the same moment, Naomi arrived at CIFM. As always, she quickly reached her office, and let herself relax inside. She opened her computer, but there was no sign of Little Guy.

She sighed. This man was so complicated. All the men were complicated. _When you want their help, nobody is here, but when you refused it, that's when they decide to help_, she thought with another sigh.

Well if he didn't want to face her, she would investigate the crime scene and the murder alone.

"I don't need his help. I was doing my job without him before he faked his way in the FBI." _And into my life_, she thought unconsciously.

**XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOXOXOOX**

"Doctor Stiles, who were you talking to?"

"Hmm?"

Derek turned to face Heather Ross who was pushing the wheelchair of her mother. Tracy Mercer had awoken a month ago, but she was still ill and weak. Derek had already performed two operations on her, and a last one should be enough for her to recover entirely.

Adel was here too, speaking with Angie.

But Caduceus and its direction had asked that the surgeon who was called "CR-S01" performed it.

Derek had agreed because he wanted to see the young surgeon operating himself. The fact that he was able to save Naomi with a bit of his help was incredible. Only an awesome surgeon could have done that, it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

And Derek had asked for Adel's presence because he thought that it would help Adel realized that he could be a good surgeon without the Healing Touch.

"Doctor Stiles, we're going to load onto the plane."

"Thanks Angie. I just talked to Naomi, it seems she's alright and that we'll see her at Resurgam when we'll arrive."

"That's great news. It's been a while since we saw her."

"Indeed."

"Hmm, I'm sorry but who's Naomi?" asked Adel Tulba.

Angie responded to Adel's question with a small laugh:

"She was a doctor in Caduceus Europe, but she was also a member of Delphi like my father. However, her role in it was to save patients infected by GUILT for research, not to actually spread it. When we met her, she provided Caduceus with information and worked with

them, so the government let her go. She also saved Dr. Stiles when HE was infected with GUILT himself!"

"Really? Wow, she must be an awesome surgeon! Does she…"

"Have the Healing Touch? Yes, but she isn't a surgeon anymore. She's working in forensics now."

"Oh I see."

"But she's a nice woman." Derek added, "A bit cold, but still she's dedicated to her work and always ready to help."

Angie chuckled a bit. "I'm very happy to see her again."

"Yes, me too," Derek said, "And I'll see another old friend too."

"Is it someone I know?"

"Oh I don't think so. I met him when I went to a conference with Naomi before we left Caduceus Europe. He sat in the chair next to us and while we were talking, I found out that we both went to the same college, although he was an alumni. He's a diagnostician now."

Heather Ross approached the pair, still pushing her mother's wheelchair.

"Do you think Mom will be in good hands?" Heather asked, her voice full of worry.

"Don't worry Heather. The surgeon seems to have incredible skills, and if something goes wrong we'll be there to save her."

Heather smiled and stroke her mother's hair who was looking outside. "I'm counting on you Doctor Stiles".

**XOXOXOXOXOXOOXOOX**

"Gabe? Gaaabe? Are you in here?" Esha Patel called in front of the door of the diagnostician's office.

She didn't receive any answer so she opened the door slowly. Inside Gabriel seemed to be on the phone with someone. With the look on his face, the Chief could say that he wasn't really happy.

She waited so that he could hung up. When he did, she didn't have the time to tell anything because he spoke first:

"What do you want…again?"

Esha sighed: "Well Ian Holden just called me. He told me that we are supposed to receive…"

"Some Caduceus members? Yeah I know."

"How did…?"

"Naomi told me already and I just received a phone call from Jacob Tillman."

"The Assistant Secretary of the HHS? What did he want?"

"He told me the same thing, that Caduceus was coming here for the kid."

"Too bad…" Esha sighed, "I wanted kiddo to stay here with us. He's nice guy."

"Yes…It's true."

Esha eyed Gabriel mockingly.

"What?" He asked her, frowning.

"It's nothing. It's just rare to see you agreeing with me on somebody's skills. Sometimes you amazed me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I've worked to do so… move it!"

"Hey…! Hmph! I hope you'll be more civilized with Caduceus." And she closed the door.

"Ha! Don't count on me…" he said to nobody, before remembering his discussion with Tillman.

[…]

_**A few minutes ago**_

_"You want me to do what?" he asked the politician._

"I think you've understood quite well. Try to stop our young surgeon from accepting Caduceus' offer."

_"And why would I do that? It's his life after all."_

"I thought you didn't like Caduceus."

_"I think some of its members are good doctors," he said, thinking about Derek and Naomi, "But a lot of them, especially in Caduceus Europe, are only after fame and money. I don't trust them. But if the kid wants to go with them, then he can do as he's pleased!"_

"Listen, lad. I know you quite well, after all that happened. And I can tell by your voice that you don't want it either. That's why you're going to do it."

_"Alright, alright!" The diagnostician said, angry at both the politician and himself. "I admit: I don't want him to go with them. But I'm not gonna stop him. If you don't want him to accept then all you have to do is forbid him to go with them. What's the problem?"_

"I already gave my approval."

_"Then what? Why do you think I can do anything about the situation?"_

"Because you and I both know what the young surgeon wants. He wants freedom. And if he works with Caduceus, then he'll be free. That's why he's going to accept."

_"Well, no one can say if he'll say yes."_

"He will. But I don't think he's ready to work with them. This environment is full of predators ready to catch and use what has some interests for them and only them."

_"Heh! That's how people are," Gabriel chuckled darkly. He wasn't the least surprised about what Tillman had said. He knew by Naomi how those guys working inside Caduceus were._

"Furthermore…", _Tillman continued_, "If I tell him not to go, then he won't listen to me. I called you because I thought… no, because I know, you're the only one he'll listen to."

_Gabriel was speechless._

"…_What?", was his only answer._

"Don't be so surprised. I can see it in his eyes. He trusts you, and he'll listen to you. And since you don't want him to go either, it'll be easier for you to convince him."

"_I'm not going to do anything." The diagnostician said. _

_Then, he heard a sigh at the end of the line, and suddenly Jacob's voice was becoming angrier._

"You're gonna let him go? You know as well as I do that they'll change him. He's going to become deceitful and opportunistic. Is that what you want?"

_Gabriel didn't answer. Then he sighed and in low whisper said: "No…"_

"Well then, you know what you have to do."

_"Wait! How am I supposed to convince him not to join them, but to go back in his fridge, and work out his entire sentence to be free?"_

"That's up to you."

_Gabriel let out a disenchanted laugh: "Thanks for the help."_

"You're welcome. Now I've got to go."

_The politician hung up, letting Gabriel wondering what he'll do. That's when he noticed Esha._

[…]

_**Present time**_

Gabriel smirked, taking another cigarette. He let out a sigh and stared at his wall. _Jeez,_ he thought, _what am I supposed to do?_

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Special Investigator Navel was wandering through the streets. He hadn't gone to work this morning, because he didn't want to see her.

Because it hurt too damn much.

He had stayed awake all night, his mind totally blank, without thought, feelings or idea on what to do _now_.

He knew she was pregnant, he knew he was the father, and what _now_?

He sighed.

He looked around him and found himself in front of a school. He checked his watch and saw it was already 4 p.m, time for kids to go home. As he could see, indeed, there were kids in front of the school, and parents, especially mothers waiting for them.

Navel could see the faces of the children, happy to see Mommy in front of the school, and giving them a hug. There were a few men as well who were waiting outside of the school. A young child saw his father and yelled: "Daddy!", before running towards him, and the agent shivered. _It's something I might never know,_ he thought bitterly and sadly.

He began to turn away when he noticed than this school was close to Naomi's house.

A lot of parents and their children had left already, and in front of the entrance there were only five or six kids waiting for their parents.

Navel crossed the road, deciding to go elsewhere, so that he couldn't see Naomi if she was around. But when he looked one more time at the school, he noticed a kid being bullied by others kid. It seems to be a girl with… _bandages_ ?

_Could it be…?_, he wondered.

Before he could fully process what was happening, his legs made him cross the road again and there he was, in front of the school.

There were four guys, who seemed to be between 8 and 10 years old. And a little girl Navel knew well: Alyssa.

The kids were apparently making fun of her, even though she tried not to burst into tears.

Suddenly one of the boys pulled at her hair. She tried to push him, but he was stronger than her. The boy's friends were all laughing.

_As if it's funny to see a poor girl being bullied. Little sh*ts!_

The agent of the FBI could feel the anger building inside him. Without any other thoughts, he walk towards them, raised a hand and slapped the boy. Hard.

He knew, deep in his mind, that he had acquired this mentality by working for Delphi. Life with Delphi had been hard, and he had had to protect himself. He knew how to fight.

At the second when his hand met with the boy's cheek, a loud SMACK was heard. The boy stumbled and fall, the red trace of his hand on his cheek.

The others kid were silent, while they watched the little sh*t that was their chief beginning to cry. Alyssa looked at him with grateful eyes.

At this moment, a woman arrived. Navel noticed her but too late. When she saw him and the kid on the ground, her face became furious.

_Probably the kid's mother,_ he thought.

However, he had the feeling that he knew her. Where had he seen her? Maybe in a old investigation? Then he remembered. This woman's name was Carolyn Bowen, she had been questioned for the murders of Alma and Abigail Parker. Her husband had been cheating on her with Abigail Parker.

"What did you do to my son? You…!"

"He was bullying this young girl. He deserved it."

"What? Does it give you the right to beat him?"

"Oh, don't worry, he only received a slap. Nothing to worry about."

" You don't have the right to do anything to him! It's normal that kids bully other kids. It's not my fault if this girl is weak and covered in bandages."

Alyssa dropped her head down. Navel clenched his fists, trying to resist to slap her just like he did to her son.

"I'll let you know, madam, that this girl survived to a bomb attack. She's very brave and very courageous, and she's a real fighter! However this crying thing that you called your son wasn't even able to hold his tears when I slapped him, and that proves that he's the one who is weak. That's why he bullies other kids. You should think again of the education you gave him."

He took Alyssa by the hand, and began leaving, Bowen and her son too surprised and hurt in their pride to say anything. A wicked thought came to his mind and he decided to humiliate her one more time.

"And there is no need to wonder why your husband is cheating on you when I see how pathetic you and the child you gave him are!"

And with that he left, smiling widely, and definitely happy.

Farther, he stopped walking, and let go of Alyssa's hand.

She smiled at him with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, Mr. Agent."

"Um… you're welcome."

There was an odd silence for a few seconds, before Navel decided to ask her:

"Why didn't you tell Naomi that you were bullied ?"

Alyssa didn't look at him, but answered nonetheless:

"B…Because I think she's very tired, and I didn't want her to worry about me. So I pretended that they were all nice, but I've got no buddies and everyone is making fun of me. They said I'm Frankenstein with all my bandages."

Navel knelt down at her height, "You're a very brave little girl. You shouldn't listen to whatever they told you. I'm sure that none of them could have been through what you have. So don't worry about it. And Naomi is supposed to protect you, so I'm sure you can tell her everything. You have to tell her everything. Do you understand Alyssa?"

She nodded slowly. Navel stood up and took his cell phone. He handed it to Alyssa and told her to call Naomi and to tell her that he would bring her back to CIFM.

When she was done, they walked in direction of CIFM. There, he let her at the entrance, knowing that she knew where Naomi's office was.

Before he left, Alyssa spoke once more:

'Thank you for everything, Mr. Agent. Thank you for having fought for me."

Navel smiled: "You're welcome", he said.

And he waved her goodbye before leaving.

While he walked in the streets, he thought back at what she had told him. He stopped walking.

"She said… Thank you for having fought for me…?"

He processed what he had just said. Then, Navel let out a chuckle and smiled slightly.

"Well, well… This baby's mine too, Doctor Kimishima… And I'm going to fight for it… whether you want it… or not!"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you have anymore questions just ask!^^ **

**Yeah about Carolyn Bowen, it was a character I really despised with her husband in the game, that's why she's humiliated by Navel. Ha! He's the best!^^**

**Next chapter: Well reunion of everybody at Resurgam. We're getting to the best part guys, I promise!^^ However this chapter might be a bit late because I promised to one of my friends to write her something, and I want it to be perfect for her, so I'm taking the time. That's why this chapter may be a bit late!**

**A review pretty please? I think I deserved it! :3**

**See you guys!^^**


	6. Meeting at Resurgam part 1

**And here we go! I don't think I'll be able to post anything else before New Year but let's hope so! :) A shorter chapter, when you compare it to chapter 5. **

**As always huge thanks for all my readers and reviewers. Thank you very much! Keep reading and reviewing! And many many thanks to risefromgrace who took the time once more to correct me! **

**DISCLAIMER: All the characters you may have seen when playing the Trauma games are belonging to Capcom. The characters you don't recognize, like Clive Johnson are mine!**

**Enjoy ~~ And merry Christmas and a happy New Year, if I do not post before! :)**

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* * *

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**Chapter 6: Meetings at Resurgam part 1**

CR-S01 was waiting in his cell because Dr. Tachibana was performing a surgery, Dr. Freebird was apparently taking some time off, and Dr. Cunningham was nowhere to be found.

He heard some footsteps and finally saw Esha Patel, the Chief at Resurgam, as well as Ian Holden, the man responsible for him. _That's odd_, he thought.

As far as he could see, Chief Patel seemed to be yelling at someone on the phone. The closer she got, the more he could hear her words:

"…No, Maria! This isn't your day off, it'll be in two days. I need you here!"

Ah, so she was talking with Maria, which was probably why she was angry. He knew Esha was a nice woman and a very efficient Chief, but doctors like Maria and Dr. Cunningham were always hard to deal with, so sometimes she needed to be severe.

"… What? What do you mean you don't want to? I don't care about what you want Torres!" A pause. "…I know you're working hard Maria, but you're not the only one."

Now Ian and Esha were standing in front of his cell, the latter still talking on her cell phone. CR-S01 and Holden exchanged a look while Esha kept speaking to Maria.

"Now Maria, you're coming to Resurgam, I don't care about who you're with at this moment. The reunion will last maybe one hour or two but that's all. Please."

And she hung up before smiling at CR-S01. She searched the key to his cell in her pockets, but CR-S01 opened the door at this moment.

"What?" Holden said, "It wasn't locked. But what if he had escaped?"

"Whoa, whoa! He's still here, right?" Esha said, trying to calm him. "Furthermore, he isn't the kind of guy who would try to escape. He's just too nice for that."

CR-S01 said nothing at her comment, instead he asked Holden:

"Are you here to take me back to my cell?"

Holden sighed, "No. Um… At least not now."

"You have to stay at the reunion that'll take place at Resurgam in less than one hour," Esha completed.

"A reunion? What for? And why do I have to stay?"

But neither Holden nor Esha answered him.

**XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOOX**

Maria was getting up from Jason's bed.

It was mid-afternoon, but Esha had called her and asked for her presence at Resurgam for this mysterious reunion, and she had to say that she was a bit curious about this meeting.

She searched for her clothes, found them in the room and put them on before noting that they weren't her usual work clothes. Maybe she'd have to go back at home before going at Resurgam; She didn't want Gabe to laugh at her like always whenever she tried out a new outfit or haircut.

Then she searched for Jason, to tell him that she had to go to work. He had left a few minutes before Esha's phone call. She found him in his kitchen, talking in a whisper with someone on the phone. She couldn't hear what he was saying.

When Jason saw her, his eyes widened in surprise for a moment (something that Gabe could have noticed, but not Maria), before he hung up and smiled, himself again.

"Who were you talking to?"

"Oh huh… Um… It's… My boss."

"What? Your boss?"

"Yeah. He said I had to go at work because I've got a paper to finish. I'm sorry but I can't stay as I told you."

"That's okay," Maria told him with a huge smile, "I've gotta go working too! Some kind of a boring reunion."

"Oh!" He said, sighing in relief, "So you're not mad?"

"Why would I be?" He didn't answer her, so she changed the subject. "Can we see each other tonight?"

"Um… well… it's…"

Jason was apparently unsure of what he had to say. Maria frowned in confusion. _Did he think it was only for one night?_, she wondered, feeling nervous.

"Don't blame me Maria, but I forgot when I invited you yesterday that I had to go eating tonight with Ashley."

"Ashley? Ashley Strew?" Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, that she thought he could hear it.

"Yeah. She's a good friend, and since I broke up with my last girlfriend, she's been a real support to me. And tonight, we had decided to go watch a movie and to go to the restaurant after that."

"Oh…" Maria felt a wave of relief; he had said that she was only a good friend.

"If you want," he said, approaching her until he could stroke her cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow morning if you want. We'll have breakfast together."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow Maria." He chuckled before kissing her slightly on the lips.

Then she left his apartment, she headed to her small house by foot since her bike was back home.

**XOXOXOOXOXOXOXO**

Naomi was preparing to leave for Resurgam when it happened.

Alyssa was playing in the garden in front of CIFM, and at the moment she opened the door of her office, she found one of her colleagues, a kind woman who sometimes helped her, behind it. Before she could say anything, her colleague, tears forming in her eyes, told her:

"Oh Naomi! I'm so happy for you, congratulations!" She said, giving Naomi a big hug.

"Wh…What?"

"Just tell me if you need anything, I'll be there to help you."

"I…I'm sorry?"

Another one of her colleagues saw her and his reaction was almost the same.

"You should take a break Naomi, it would be better for your health."

"I'm sorry but…what are you talking about?"

But before they could answer her, David Wayne arrived. He walked towards her and congratulated her too. Her two fellow colleagues left right after this, congratulating her again and Naomi was left alone with Chief Wayne.

"So how do you feel?" The man asked her, a bit fatherly.

"About what?" She snapped at him in return, angry about the whole situation.

"About your pregnancy of course!"

"Wh…?" She was speechless. When she regained her composure, she spoke again, "Chief! How do you know about that?"

"Hm? Oh well, I received a message from the FBI. And apparently I'm not the only one." He chuckled.

_Oh my God, no…_

"Ch-Chief, who sent you this message?"

"Hm? I don't know. It was from the FBI, but there was no signature. Seriously, I can't understand why you decided to tell them and not me."

"I didn't tell them anything! I've only told…"

That's when she saw a shadow at the end of the corridor. A tall and thin man probably in a purple suit and who didn't want to come closer.

"Naomi?"

"Chief, I'll talk to you later because I'm going be late."

"Oh? Whatever then."

And he left. When she was sure that they were alone with this man, she approached him slowly. Strangely, he didn't try to run or to hide.

She caught his blue tie and pushed him against the wall.

"What did you do?" She asked, accentuating each word.

"H…hey now, I'm the father of this baby right? I've got to protect it and its mother too. You're under too much stress." Navel – of course it was him – told her.

"So you're putting your nose into my business? What did I tell you yesterday? I DON'T want your help! I can support myself and this baby. Am I clear?"

"Oh come on Doctor, it has always been about you! I'm the father, and I've got rights and duties towards this child, even if it's not born yet! I want to help you, and I want to take care of this child too!" He said with all his conviction.

"Why?"

"Huh?" He didn't expect her to ask such a laconic question, but Naomi Kimishima was an unexpected woman.

"Why do you want to help me?" She asked him, massaging her temples, "Is it because you feel guilty about me? Or is it because you feel guilty about Delphi and want to persuade yourself that you can be a better man?"

"Wh—?"

He was absolutely speechless. How could she even think that it was because of Delphi? He knew now that Delphi had been the biggest mistake in his life, and nothing could erase what he had done with the organization.

"Why?" He heard her repeating, her tone softer, her blue eyes looking into his own. She didn't seem to be as mad as she had been before.

"I…I…" He knew the answer, deep inside of him. He knew what the reason was, but he couldn't say it. Their relationship would be worse than before if he told her.

"I… don't know…" He finally said. _Liar_.

"Listen, Agent." She said, sighing, her eyes closed. "If you really want to help me then… stay out of this. The best you could do for me would be to stay out of this, out of my life, and let me take care of this situation. You won't change your past by helping me, and I don't want you to change my life again."

He didn't answer her. He was thinking about another plan to make her accept his presence, to make her realize that she needed him, but a little voice in his head was beginning to tell him that maybe she didn't need him. Maybe he was the one who needed her.

"Little Guy… What did you write in the message you sent to CIFM?"

"Huh? I wrote that you were pregnant and that it would be better for you, since you've been under surgery a month ago, that you could take a little break from work."

"…"

"…"

"… Just stop trying to help me in my private life."

And with that she began to leave.

"Doctor, I…!"

But Naomi didn't hear him, or didn't want to, so she didn't answer. She closed the door of the corridor behind her, letting Navel hurt inside of him and all alone.

"Damn…" He said to himself, "If I can't even admit it to myself, then no wonder why I can't tell her that I… that I… Dammit!" He shouted, hitting the wall with his fist.

**XOXOXOOXOOXOXOO**

"HEY Tomoe!"

Said Tomoe turned back to see Gabriel running towards her.

"Dr. Cunningham? Hm…Why are you out of breath?"

"Ah… Do you…Do you know where the…the kid is, please?" He asked, trying to calm his heart and to find his breath.

" Huh? You mean him? I think I saw him with Chief Patel and Mr. Holden a few minutes ago. Chief Patel had something to tell him."

_Damn_, the diagnostician thought, _I'm too late!_

"Hm? Is there something you wanted to tell him?

"Oh well, I can always talk to him after the reunion, it's alright."

_But it'll more difficult after the reunion_, he said to himself, knowing the power of persuasion of the directors of Caduceus.

"Oh, Doctor! There was something else I wanted to tell you."

"Huh? What is it Tomoe?" He was only half-listening to her, wondering what he could say to the kid. If Tillman was right, then the kid would listen to him. He didn't understand really why though; it's not like he had try to get closer to the surgeon, when he had been working here.

"…and Joshua is affected by that."

"Huh? What? Sorry, what did you say?" He had winced internally when he had heard his son's name.

"I was saying that I heard from your ex-wife that apparently Joshua had some trouble with his teacher because she's still forcing him to practise sports in school, even if he's still exhausted because of all he has gone through, and even if it has been three weeks since he has left the hospital. And I think that your ex-wife wants you to talk to the teacher."

"What?" He couldn't believe what she had said.

"Yes, I know you're divorced, but still I think that, for your son's sake…"

"No, no, I mean what? A teacher's bugging my son even though he just had surgery? Of course I'll talk to her!"

Even if Lisa and him had divorced, he still cared a lot about Joshua. A lot more than he wanted to admit, in fact. Joshua was his son, and even if he didn't know that he, Gabriel, was his father, that didn't mean that the diagnostician was going to let him being even more exhausted because of a stupid teacher.

_That's why I've always hated school and teachers_.

"Thanks Tomoe, I'll call the teacher. There's no way I'll let him suffer even more. See you at the reunion!"

He turned around when Tomoe called him:

"Doctor Cunningham!"

"What?" He said over his shoulder.

"You're a good father."

That almost made the diagnostician trip over his own feet, all the while Tomoe was smiling at him.

_Me, a good father? Ha! This must be a joke. Anyway here we go. I've got a call to make and a surgeon to convince._

This was going to be a long day. Maybe he should turn RONI off so that he could think clearly of what was happening all around him.

**XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOO**

"Ah good afternoon Dr. Stiles, it's been a while!"

"Indeed Chief Miller," Derek smiled, shaking his hand.

"Good afternoon to you as well Robert, Kasal, and Ms. Thompson." Robert Hoffman shook his hand while Sidney only nodded at him.

Chief Miller didn't even acknowledge the presence of Prof. Blackwell, neither those of Adel or Heather.

"Should we get going? I've booked cars for us." That's when Derek noticed a man standing not far behind him. Langston Miller noted his look and exclaimed: "Ah, I'm very sorry. I've forgotten to introduce you to Clive Johnson, a doctor who used to work with us during the GUILT outbreak three years ago. He left soon after that, however, to go study in Japan, but now he's back and ready to take back his place."

"It's pleasure to meet you all." The aformentioned Clive smiled, shaking everyone's hands.

"Clive doesn't have the Healing Touch like you or Naomi, but he's an awesome surgeon."

"Oh Chief Miller, please don't be like that. I can't be compared to Naomi or Dr. Stiles." Clive said, trying to stay modest, a quality that Derek appreciated a lot, and he knew that Director Hoffman and Chief Kasal appreciated it too.

"You know Naomi?" Angie asked, curious.

"Yes quite well actually. We've been together for quite some time before I decided to go to Japan. She was already into forensics."

"You broke up with her?"

"No it was her. A few weeks before I left. But she was influenced by a stupid man that she likes to call her friend. I can't stand this guy, he was just some old surgeon some time ago. But now I think he's a diagnostician or something like that these days." Clive said bitterly, before noticing his tone of voice and smiling in excuse.

_Oh oh, I think I know who's talking about_, Derek thought. But Clive looked exactly the kind of man Naomi would go out with. He was calm, serious, well-mannered and discreet.

After this, all the members of Caduceus left the airport. The cars that Chief Miller had booked seemed to be very classy. That's when Angie noticed that there weren't any spaces for her father, nor for Adel or Heather or Heather's mother. She exchanged a look with Derek who had noticed too.

"I think I'll take a cab, and I'll give my seat to Mrs. Mercer. Angie, are you coming with me?"

"Yes," she answered, "Take my seat, Heather. Father, Adel, Dr. Stiles and I will take a cab."

Heather thanked them with a grateful smile, and climbed in the car.

When all the cars had left, the other four looked for a cab to take them to Resurgam.

"Well, he didn't seem very pleased to see Director Hoffman and Chief Kasal or us," Adel couldn't help but notice.

"Yes, well," Derek answered, "He's a bit angry because our Caduceus was the only one which fought against the HOA and Acropolis so he got a lot of negative response, so much that it could've cost him his position as director of Caduceus Europe."

"And moreover," Prof. Blackwell added, "the person who found a treatment and who imagined a serum to destroy all the new strains of GUILT was Victor, a member of our Caduceus. So he's a bit hurt in his pride."

"I see," Adel said, "so you're telling me that the different branches of Caduceus are in competition?"

"Yes, a little." Angie chuckled.

"Oh God," Derek added, "I pity the poor surgeon who will be asked to be a part of Caduceus."

[…]

Derek and the others exited the cab, and found themselves in front of Resurgam First Care.

"Director Hoffman and the others must already be here."

"Let's enter", Angie proposed.

Inside, they didn't see any of their colleagues. Derek approached the receptionist, who was apparently writing something down.

"Excuse me, we're from Caduceus, and there is a reunion who will begin soon. Can you tell us which room it is, please?"

"Yes, of course sir." She said, smiling. She checked something on her computer, before telling him that she needed his name and his colleagues'. "I'm really sorry, but it's because it's a private reunion, and the Chief forbade the journalists to enter."

"I understand," Derek answered.

At that time, another voice was heard:

"I'm taking care of them, Lily. There's no need for that."

Derek turned around and saw a woman apparently in her 40s, one hand on her hip, holding a little carnet in the other.

"You must be Derek Stiles," She said extending her hand, "I'm Esha Patel."

_Great_, Angie thought furiously_, another woman who fell for him because he's famous, just like Reina Mayuzumi did._

"How do you know it was us?" Angie asked, trying to call the attention of the woman.

"Oh, because Director Hoffman told me that you were gonna arrive in a cab. So, I was waiting for you." The woman said, smiling at her.

Angie realized that the woman was trying to be nice at them, and she appreciated the effort. Maybe she wasn't like Mayuzumi, after all…

"It's a conference about the latest virus that provoked a crisis in Portland a month ago, right?" Prof. Blackwell asked.

"Yes it is, that's why we'll have some doctors of the hospital attending to the reunion as well as other guests."

They arrived quickly at the conference room; inside the others were already here.

"And here we are," the chief of Resurgam announced, "The conference will start in a few minutes. We have to wait for the other members."

Derek sat next to Clive Johnson, while Angie sat between her father and Adel.

Adel observed the room with a curious look. Apart from the people he knew, there were nurses both male and female present, he noticed a young man with blue hair talking to a young man with glasses. She seemed to be very excited.

The door opened and a tall woman entered. She was wearing a black and red suit, she had silver hair and beautiful blue eyes, he felt himself beginning to blush so he looked away. However, the woman made a step in his direction. He heard Angie say: "Hello Naomi, it's been a while!"

The woman called Naomi smiled slightly at Angie but Adel could see that she seemed to appreciate the nurse. Then she turned to Derek who greeted her as well, and as enthusiastically as Angie had done.

Naomi was indeed quite happy to see them. Then she discovered Prof. Blackwell and Langston Miller and she became a bit colder towards them. And a few seconds later, she faced someone she thought she would never saw again.

"Hey Naomi, how are you?," Clive asked.

"I'm fine", she said, straightforward as always, not wanting to tell him that she was pregnant. And before he could tell her anything else, she added: "I'm going to sit down, the conference is about to begin."

This woman was quite cold indeed Adel thought, but she seemed to be very clever.

The door opened for the second time and a group of what seemed to be paramedics made their way in the room. One of them, a young woman with short brown hair and green eyes saw Naomi and quickly waved a hand at her while the former surgeon nodded at her.

The room was becoming more and more filled out. A few people who didn't seem to be doctors were present as well: a blond old man in a wheelchair, another one with his skin as dark as Adel's and wearing glasses.

"Um…I'm sorry but is the young surgeon here already?" Clive asked Esha Patel.

"Oh, no, not yet. He's with Ian Holden, an FBI agent, and he's reading the files of the patient he's supposed to operate on tomorrow. He'll arrive in the middle of the conference."

Indeed, Mrs. Mercer, Heather's mother, had already been settled into one of the hospital rooms.

While Adel was continuing his examination of the room, heavy footsteps were suddenly heard and the door opened for the third time. This time, a giant man entered. Adel noticed in bewilderment that he seemed quite sad and hurt, he could see it on his face. The man dragged himself to a chair and fell on it, and for a moment Adel wondered if the chair was going to collapse under his weight. The young woman with short brown hair and in a yellow and green jacket who had entered the room sooner left her comrades and went to sat beside him, beginning to pat him on the back.

_Who is he?_ Adel wondered, _It's the first time I've seen someone that muscular._

Adel looked at Angie, motioning towards the giant doctor with his head. She shrugged, not understanding either and not particularly caring.

Langston Miller, Robert Hoffman and Sidney Kasal were discussing with Esha Patel and the blond old man in a wheelchair, and Adel couldn't hear a word of what they were saying but it must have been important.

At this moment, Esha looked at the people in the room and checked her watch. _What in the world are they doing?_ she thought angrily. _I've waited enough for them, let's start._

Every person present in the room sat while the Chief of Resurgam faced them, clearing her throat.

"Good afternoon everybody. I'm Esha Patel, the chief of this ward for those who don't know me. It's a pleasure to receive you here so that you can learn more about the Rosalia Virus, a dangerous virus which provoked a crisis in and around Portland a month ago. The people here—"

She was bluntly interrupted by a man who was yelling very loudly in the corridor, and a woman who tried, without success, to calm him. He was approaching the conference room.

"—do you think you are? You think you can act as a tyrant because you're a stupid teacher, and because you think you have power over those kids? If I wrote in this sick note that my son couldn't practice sports then that means that he CAN'T practice sports! Or are you too stupid to understand something as simple as that?"

A pause. The other, a woman, tried to calm him: "Doctor please calm down! You shouldn't—"

"What? WHAT? What do YOU even know about what he suffered? I can assure you that he's still tired about the surgery he went under last month!… I don't care that it's important. He'll play sports when he feels better, that's all there is to it!…You know what? I bet I know why a f*cking old teacher like you is that way with my kid. Your man left you, right? That's why you're just taking your anger out on those children. No need to wonder why kids don't like school when f*cking old women like you are teaching them."

The man was laughing as he added: "Yeah, yeah. You must feel intelligent telling me that. You know what? I'll come see him tomorrow so that you and I can speak together face to face."

He seemed to hang up at that moment.

"Doctor, you needn't to be that violent with her. Your ex-wife just wanted you to tell her that Joshua was still sick. There was no need for that huge speech."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I was angry anyway."

At this moment the door opened, and Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Tachibana entered the room. Everybody was staring at them.

Gabriel lit a cigarette before grunting: "What? Is this the first you're seeing a diagnostician yelling on the phone?" And he began to search for a seat, Tomoe following behind him.

Derek smiled inwardly: "It's been a while, Gabe," he muttered to himself.

* * *

**Well, I hope you liked. I wanna read what you thought about it, so please review! :3 And if you have any questions about the story, about the characters and so on, just ask! :)**

**Next chapter will be the continuation of this one. I can even give you the title: Meeting at Resurgam part 2. So all the characters are gonna be present! **

**See you guys, and have wonderful vacations!**


	7. Meeting at Resurgam part 2

**OMG guys! I'm so sorry! I will never leave this story unfinished I promise! Life was like Hell in January and this chapter was hard to write! Hopefully it's getting better now. I'm really sorry for the absence of news for more than a month. Will you ever forgive me?**

**Many many thanks to all my readers and reviewers and all the thanks of the world to risefromgrace16 who corrected me with a lot of patience: you're the best! :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except my own characters. The others belong to ATLUS.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Meeting at Resurgam part 2

The kid had entered the conference room two minutes ago and was now explaining the internal mechanisms of the virus but Gabriel wasn't listening.

He had spotted Tillman in his wheelchair when he had entered at the beginning of the conference. He was pretty sure that the old man was expecting him to have talked to the kid. _Well, he'll be very disappointed then_, Gabriel thought bitterly.

Amongst the staff of Resurgam, there were only a few people who were listening to what the kid was saying. The others, like him, Tomoe, Hank or Maria knew already everything there was to know about the Rosalia Virus.

Gabriel sighed. He was angry with himself for not talking with the kid sooner. Now it was too late, no matter what he would try: those directors of Caduceus were going to have what they wanted.

_Let it go_, he thought to himself, _it's his life not yours. Why do you even care? _

He had no answer to this question. Talk about disturbing.

The kid seemed to have finished talking. Now, he was answering the few questions that doctors were asking him.

Gabriel looked at Hank. The giant doctor was staring at the kid, but he didn't seem to listen at all. _Not that I blame him; that situation with his friend must have been really hard on him._

The kid was applauded at this moment, meaning that the conference was over. Gabriel stayed on his chair and watched as the two directors of Caduceus Europe and USA stood up and went to talk to the young surgeon. Tillman was with them, as well as Esha.

_Well_, he thought, _that's what they called fate. Now he will sign for a spot at Caduceus and we'll never hear about him again._

**XOXXOOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

CR-S01 noticed that two men were approaching him and apparently wanted to talk to him. Before he could say anything though, one of the two men said:

"Hello, my name's Langston Miller, and this is Robert Hoffman. We are the directors of Caduceus Europe and Caduceus USA. We wanted to talk you."

"Um, yes. How may I help you?"

That's when he saw and Chief Patel who were also listening to the conversation.

"Young man, you are a promising surgeon," the man who had first talked said, but CR-S01 didn't answer. "I want to tell you that we also know all about your past." He stopped again, but CR-S01 didn't answer this time neither.

"With Mr. Tillman and Mr. Holden," the other man, an old man with glasses, continued, "we've taken in consideration what you've done during this crisis for all the patients. You were a real help, and for that, the government wishes to thank you."

"It was…alright. There is no need for that, it was—"

"We've decided to give you another chance." Tillman said abruptly, cutting him.

"Wh…what?"

There was a silence in the group for at least a minute.

"We're offering you a post at Caduceus."

"B-But why? I haven't done anything—"

"Well, actually, your place in Caduceus will be offered if you can operate on a certain patient successfully." Hoffman said.

"I gave you her charts earlier," Chief Patel intervened.

"You mean… the woman called Tracy Mercer?"

"Absolutely," Miller said, "she needs a final operation before she can totally recover from GUILT. We've decided that if you're able to heal her then you'll have a post in Caduceus."

CR-S01 didn't say anything. He seemed to be lost. _**He **__hasn't talked to him_, Tillman realized. _What an idiot_.

"Boy, listen to me," Jacob said, "If you're able to heal that woman that means you won't go back in jail. You won't be obligated to work out what's left of your sentence, you'll be a free man and you'll work as a doctor in Caduceus."

"And if I say no?"

"Why would you say no? It's a once in a lifetime chance," Miller said.

"If you say no," Holden answered slowly, "you'll go back in jail and nothing will change."

"You have until tomorrow, right after the operation, to make your decision," Esha said.

"And if you want to know what's the purpose of the organization, then talk with the few members who are here," Hoffman added. "Furthermore, this man," he showed the kid a man who was sitting on a chair next to a blond woman, "this man is Kenneth Blackwell. He was a member of Delphi and he was supposed to go to jail, but instead, the government opted for him to work for us. He's just like you."

CR-S01 nodded slowly. This seemed to be, indeed, a true chance for him.

He decided to go talk to the man Dr. Hoffman had mentioned. He was sitting on a chair, alone, but he noticed when the young surgeon came to him.

"Hm…Good afternoon, sir."

The man tried to smile a little bit:

"Good afternoon. You're the surgeon who saved Naomi Kimishima aren't you?"

"Yes that's me. Um… These doctors told me you were supposed to be in jail but still you're working for them?"

"Ah yes. You see I was a part of Delphi and I—"

"I-I'm sorry sir, but what is Delphi?"

"You don't know?" Blackwell was surprised.

"No I've spent the last eight years in jail."

"Oh I see. Delphi was a bio-terrorism organization which created deadly viruses, thinking that it would clean humans of their sins."

"And you were a part of it?" He asked, hoping he wasn't sounding too curious.

Blackwell's eyes saddened: "Yes, unfortunately. But when they discovered the organization and understood what my role was and why I had joined them, they decided to help me pay my debt to society. Of course, I'll never be able to erase all those memories, but working for Caduceus helps me in finding peace within myself."

"So you don't regret joining them?"

"Never. The purpose of Caduceus is noble and the organization is useful."

"I see…", the young surgeon said, meditating for a moment on what Blackwell had said. "Thank you very much sir."

"It's alright. I hope it helped you and I hope you'll take the good decision."

CR-S01 nodded slowly at him, as he looked across the room. Some people had already left like Darnell and Emma, but all the doctors and nurses who had come especially for the conference were still here.

_Can I really do this? Can I really work with them? Am I skilled enough to do this?_ A lot of questions were running through his head at this moment. He wanted to pay back his debt and to keep saving people. When he had listened to what Blackwell as said, he had felt like it was possible to do it with Caduceus. And he wasn't asking for more.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

When the conference was over, Angie and Derek went to talk with Naomi bringing Adel and Heather with them.

"It's been a while, Naomi. I'm so glad to see you again!" Angie said, hugging her quickly, while Derek just smiled.

"I've missed you too, Angie. I've missed both of you." Naomi answered, smiling slightly at the nurse's comment.

She then exchanged a few words with a young surgeon named Adel and a nurse called Heather. They seemed to be clever and Naomi thought that they could have found their place in Caduceus if they had wanted to.

"So," Angie continued, "did you have your first ultrasound? I mean, for the baby?"

Before Naomi could even answer her friend, another person's voice interrupted them:

"You're pregnant Naomi? Well, that's unexpected."

Clive Johnson was standing behind them, frowning slightly at his ex-girlfriend.

Naomi's response was neutral: "Yes I am. Why do you ask?"

"Well, except if you found the perfect husband in three years, I would say that it's not like you at all to be pregnant. Was it an accident?"

"I can see you're still as observant and deductive as you were 3 years ago.' she replied, neither impressed, nor angry about what he had said.. Clive smiled in modesty, before re-asking Angie's question:

"So? Did you have an ultrasound?"

Naomi turned to Angie to give her a response:

"I'm supposed to have it tomorrow in this hospital."

Angie nodded, a bit puzzled by Clive's interruption and Naomi's behavior towards him. There was a minute of silence before he asked again:

"And what will you do after that?"

"After what?" Heather and Angie asked at the same time.

"Well, after your pregnancy. About your work, and your situation."

"What about my situation Clive?" Naomi asked, eyeing Gabriel who was leaving the conference room at this moment, and cursing him silently for not coming here when she needed him here.

"What will you do with the baby? Will you be able to take care of it alone?"

"Are you doubting me?"

_Uh oh! Naomi is angry_, Derek thought, anxious.

Clive, prudent, went back on his words: "I mean, becoming a mother is difficult at first. Maybe I could help you."

Naomi raised his eyebrows: "You? That's a bit preposterous, wouldn't you say? After all you're always traveling; not really a man to count on."

Clive smiled with shame, "Well, I could change that, and you know it."

"Humph…Maybe." Naomi decided to end the conversation. She stood up and told the group: "I've got to leave. Angie, Derek, I shall see you tomorrow for the operation. Even if I already saw him operate, I don't want to miss it. And Angie, I'll call you this evening to ask you something."

"Alright!" The blond nurse said, cheerfully.

"Wait Naomi, why don't you stay a bit longer? I'm sure you have nothing else to do."

Naomi stopped to glare at him, but that didn't seem to surprise Clive. _Well, apparently he knows her well. I wonder why they broke up_, Derek pondered.

"Well, my daughter is waiting for me actually, not that it concerns you in the slightest, so I have to go." And before someone could say anything else, she left the room, closing the door behind her with a loud BANG.

"I think she was angry." Adel said, a bit stupidly though.

"I didn't know she had a daughter. We broke up three years ago so I guess she cannot be more than one or two year old." Clive said, thinking aloud.

They all looked at Derek and Angie who answered their question: "Well, if I'm not mistaking, she adopted a little girl who must be eight or nine."

"Yes exactly," Derek added, "She was hurt in a bombing and was left alone after that. I think her name is Alicia, Alice…"

"Alyssa, doctor."

"Ah yes! Thanks Angie. So she adopted Alyssa last month and now, well… Now she's pregnant."

"Wow, must be kinda stressful and very new for her." Heather said very impressed.

"Well I can't say. She's a woman who rapidly adjusts herself in all kind of situations so I'm sure she'll be alright."

"I wonder who is the father of the baby…" Angie said with a small smile.

"You mean, you don't know?" Clive asked, sounding surprised.

"No she didn't want to tell Derek nor me. I don't know why."

"Maybe Gabe knows who's the father…"

"Who's this 'Gabe' person, Dr. Stiles?" Adel asked.

"Well, he's a friend of mine, and also a friend of Naomi. Maybe he would know."

"And maybe you could ask him doctor." Angie said, elbowing him.

"Alright, alright, I will. But he has left already. So you will have to wait a bit."

Heather laughed at the sudden little plot. Who would have known what women were able to do to have their little gossip?

**XOXOXOXOXOXOOXOX**

[…]

_**Two or three hours later**_

Gabriel had just called Lisa to tell her about the issue with the teacher and that he would be the one who would go see her. Now he was _trying_ to rest, but that was impossible because RONI kept chattering on her own.

"_Dr. Cunningham, it seems you're not sleeping enough. I can detect—"_

"Hey stop it now, I know I'm not sleeping enough. Stop being useless, and stop talking for God's sake!"

But that didn't stop that dam*ed machine. Fortunately, Dr. Cunningham was saved by a knock on his door._ I don't care who it is, even Maria would be fine_, he thought.

"C'mon in." The kid entered the diagnostician's office.

"Kid? What's going on?" Gabriel was not accustomed to see the kid in his office.

"Everything is fine, Doctor. I just wanted to tell you something."

_Uh…I think I know what he's gonna tell me… _

"So what is it?" He asked nonetheless.

"Well I've been offered a job at Caduceus but I have to perform a surgery first. If I can save this patient, then if I want, then I'll be working for them, and if I don't, then I'll just go back to my cell. So I talked with some members of Caduceus and I've made my decision."

"You'll be working for them."

The kid was surprised. "H-How did you know?"

Gabriel chuckled, "Well, I'm a diagnostician, kid, and furthermore I understand that you've had enough of being in jail for a crime you didn't commit, so I thought that it would be your official answer."

"T-that's…That's true." The kid admitted without adding anything else.

None of them talked for a brief moment, and even RONI had shut up. Gabriel knew the kid preferred silence, but that wasn't the same for him.

"So what now? Why did you want to tell me?"

The kid had been looking down the entire time, but now, surprised, he looked up at the diagnostician.

"What?"

Gabriel shrugged, "It's your decision isn't it? So, why did you tell me?"

"I thought…I thought that you would want to know…?" The young surgeon seemed unsure of what he had to say. "I'll go tell Dr. Tachibana after this."

"Then why are you still here? You've told me already, didn't you? Or is there anything else?"

"N-No I…" Incomprehension crossed the kid's young features. "I…I thought you would support me."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows, not particularly surprised by what the surgeon had just said.

"As I've said, it's your decision. I don't see how I factor into this. You've made up your mind, there is nothing else to say. Now go tell Tomoe before she's gone for the night." And he stood up from his couch and walked towards the door.

"Wh-Why are you like that? I just wanted to know what you thought about this." The surgeon seemed angry now, "I don't think that you should be treating me like this!...Fine, I'll go tell Dr. Tachibana, I'm sure she'll be more understanding."

And he reached for the door, not waiting for Gabriel's reaction. It was rare for him to become angry, but at that time he needed support not rejection.

"I think it's a bad idea."

The surgeon stopped, his hand on the door handle. Then he turned around to face the diagnostician.

"What?"

Gabriel didn't looked away, instead he smirked.

"I don't think it's a good idea to work for Caduceus."

The kid frowned, now utterly lost. "What do you mean it's bad idea? I thought you didn't care."

"I don't, but I…dislike Caduceus and I don't think you're ready to work for them."

"Ready? Ready for what? Do you know what it's like to be charged guilty for something you haven't done? This is my only possibility for freedom!"

"That's what I'm saying: you're not ready and it would be a bad idea to go with them." And when he saw the disapproval on the kid's face he added, "You wanted my opinion didn't you? Well, that's what I think."

" But why? I'm a good surgeon, and that's all they ask for."

Gabriel didn't answer and sighed. _I did what Tillman wanted but I know it will lead nowhere. He's already made up his mind._

"It's my opinion kid, and you've made your decision. You're the one who will be transferred if you accept, so don't listen to what I can tell you or what the others will tell you."

"Dr. Cunningham… I…"

"That's okay kid. Do what you want, it's your life and nobody will hold it against you."

This time, it was the kid's turn not to answer. Gabriel opened the door and said: "Go talk to Tomoe and Hank."

"Dr. Cunningham, what did I…I'm sorry if I— "

" Go kid, before they're gone. I'm sure they'll be of a better support than me."

And after he made sure the kid was in the corridor, Gabriel closed the door.

"_Dr. Cunningham, you should behave properly towards your colleagues. I also observe tension in your vocal cords which would mean that you are probably lying or simply stressed."_

But Gabriel didn't bother to answer her. _I don't know if being harsh to him will help him open his eyes, but if he's truly attached to this hospital then maybe there is hope for him._

**XOXOXOXOOXOX**

The young surgeon had found Tomoe and Hank and told them what was his decision. If one of them disapproved, they didn't show it. As Gabriel had predicted, they encouraged him to follow his own decision.

Now the endoscopic and the orthopedist surgeons were walking in the streets. Tomoe had suggested the idea and she was glad she did because it seemed that Hank was doing better. Tomoe had reassured him that Claire needed some time and she had proposed the giant doctor to go see Claire with her two days later.

They entered the mall while talking about the conference of the day:

"Those doctors from Caduceus seem all very competent, wouldn't you say Tomoe?"

"Yes I agree. I'm sure that they must be very skilled if they work for this great organization."

"Would you want to be a part of it?" Hank asked his friend.

"I'm not sure. I like seeing normal patients with …um… ordinary diseases, I mean not like GUILT. That and I don't think I'll be able to take the stress during any crises."

"You managed to save patients during the crisis with the Rosalia Virus last month, though."

"Yes, but I was still under a lot of stress and I don't know if I would be able to keep working that way. Moreover, I am attached to this hospital. There is no way I could leave all my friends."

"Yes I agree. Even Gabe wasn't able to leave for more than a month."

"Exactly. When I left for Japan, I felt sad and I just wanted to come back at Resurgam."

"…That's why you disapprove of the kid leaving for Caduceus?"

"It's not the same thing. I couldn't ask Dr. Cunningham to stay even if I wanted to either. I don't want to leave this hospital but that doesn't mean that others can't either."

"Don't worry, I feel sad too. I would rather that he stays with us."

Tomoe said nothing and kept walking next to Hank. Looking around her amongst people who were walking, she recognized a man.

"Oh!" She told Hank, "It's Jason! Maria's boyfriend."

Hank looked in the direction she was showing him. "The laughing man with brown hair and a leather jacket? He asked tentatively.

"Yes. It seems that he's with someone."

"Maybe it's Maria. She left right after the conference ended."

"Yes you're right."

They began walking towards the couple, but in a moment, Tomoe suddenly stopped and stayed there with a look of horror on her face.

"T-Tomoe? What's wrong?"

That's when Hank saw why she was so horrified. That man, Jason, who was supposedly Maria's new boyfriend was kissing a woman.

And that woman wasn't Maria.

"It's…" Tomoe tried to say, shocked, "It's… Ashley Strew."

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**I hope you enjoy. Once again I'm sorry for being so late. I'll never forget this story! I promise. Please even if I'm a bad person, a review? :3**

**Next chapter: The operation with CR-S01, Derek and Gabe, first ultrasound of Naomi, Tomoe and Maria AND MAYBE a little bit of Claire and a little bit of LG. If that's not the case, then don't worry because they'll be in the following chapter! :)**


	8. If it's difficult for you, then what do

**It's been like... a year. -_-' I'm so busy and normally I shouldn't have posted anything but I had almost finished that chapter in December, so I quickly finished it recently and I decided to post it today.**

**I don't remember if there was parts of the chapter that were beta-read but the end isn't for sure, so forgive me for all the mistakes I've written. **

**For those who still read that story (I would be surprised though) I hope you'll like it!**

**DISCLAIMER: check old chapters, it's always the same thing. **

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**Chapter 8: If it's difficult for you, then what do you think it is like for me? **

*Knock knock*

"C'mon in," Gabriel said before yawning.

"Hi Gabe," Derek answered, entering the office.

"Derek! Aww man, I noticed you earlier, but since you seemed to be busy with Naomi, I didn't join you. Sorry about that."

Derek shook his head, smiling. "Don't worry. So how are you? You seem to have beaten the Rosalia Virus crisis. And Naomi seemed to be fine too."

"Well, it's been a month so I think that everybody is pretty much over it. It reminded me of the army, ya know? So I was glad when it was over."

"I can only imagine," Derek nodded. "Your staff here seems to be very competent."

"Well Esha is quite organized. We work as teams here, there are different teams in the hospital. So it's easier since you're working with people you know. And we worked with CIFM too during the crisis."

"We're one sole team in Caduceus. But I have always the same nurse in my operations. We're alike Angie and I, so it's easier to work together. What about your team?"

"Oh well, they're very efficient, and I kinda get along with them. Before the Rosalia crisis, we already had crises on our own, in the mall, with patients…"

"I have to meet them. Would you be so kind as to introduce them to me?" Derek asked, knowing that, if Gabe wasn't caustic about them then that meant that they were really good at their job.

"Yeah, sure, tomorrow if you want. Let me see. There is Hank, a big guy with a similar-sized heart, he's an orthopedist surgeon. Recently he's having some problems on his own, so I'm not sure he's feeling well enough to meet with us. Then we have Maria, a paramedic who likes to act on her own, and she's hot tempered too. Well, she has softened a bit recently because she went on her first date, but whatever…"

"And you get along with her?" Derek asked surprised.

"I know it's weird but yes. Then there is Tomoe, our endoscopist surgeon. She's Japanese and she's gentle with everybody, she never yells. You know, it's nice to go working and see her smiling at everybody. She saved my life once too, and - I won't lie to you - she's really pretty."

Derek chuckled at his friend's comment, "She must be, else you wouldn't have talked about it!"

"And there is the kid. The one your organization wants to have."

"Oh so you were his team. Was it hard to…"

"To appreciate him? Well I can't say. Maria was harsh with him at first when she heard about what he had done, but Hank and Tomoe never talked about it and did whatever was necessary for his comfort, and I supervised his job. He is a nice kid, and even if he was cold and distant in the beginning, he opened up and became more…human."

"Well it seems like you all work well together. What about Naomi?"

"Hmm? What about her?"

"I know she's working for CIFM, but what's her life like? We didn't have time to talk that much."

"Well, the FBI asked for her help in some difficult cases and she also was joined by one of their agents. I think his name is Navel, but she calls him Little Guy."

"Wow, she doesn't seem to like him." Derek noted.

"Yep, at first she didn't. But I think that they should be okay now. They were very close during the Rosalia crisis."

"Do you know who the father of her baby is?"

"Ahahaha! Derek, you disappoint me!" Gabriel chuckled.

"What? She's a friend, I just want to know!"

"Yeah yeah, don't worry I understand. I'm sorry but I don't who the guy is, she didn't tell me. But I think it's that agent. I mean, she wouldn't sleep with the first man she would have met in the street, and since it wasn't me..."

"I see," Derek said, "Are going to support the kid during the operation tomorrow?"

"I don't think so. I know how he is, I've seen him in action countless times. This is of no interest to me. And I've got to do Naomi's ultrasound at the same time. She wanted ME to do it, of course!"

"You don't seem pleased with the idea."

"Nope I'm not. I'm her friend not her doctor." Gabriel sighed and rubbed his eyes.

Derek stood up, "Well I think it's time for you and me to go get some sleep. See you tomorrow Gabe!"

Gabriel waved a hand at him, "Yeah, yeah whatever. Have a nice night."

"Thanks. Are you going home?"

"I don't know. Maybe." The diagnostician answered sleepily.

Derek chuckled and exited the office.

**XOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOX**

_The next day_

"Good morning Dr. Tachibana."

Tomoe turned around, "Oh! Good morning Dr. Freebird. How do you feel today?"

"I'm…better. What about you?"

Tomoe's smile froze. She looked down with sad eyes. "I don't know what to do. Maria's my friend but…"

Hank laid a huge hand on her shoulder, "We should tell her. If she doesn't know now, it might destroy her when she finds out."

"Yes…I'll think about it."

There was a moment of silence before Tomoe talked again: "So you're going to assist our surgeon during the operation?"

"Yes, I look forward to it. It's always a pleasure to see him operating."

"I agree with you. I'll stay and watch too."

They were interrupted by Hank's phone.

"Oh, huh, sorry Dr. Tachibana. Yes, hello?"

Tomoe saw her friend looking more and more concerned. As he kept listening to the person speaking, his face was becoming paler and his hand squeezed the phone so hard that she thought it was going to break.

"What happened?" She asked when he hung up. He seemed to be very shaken up.

"It's…It was Mrs. Blunt… S-she said that Claire wasn't home this morning and had let her phone at her apartment. She doesn't know where she is. I…It's my fault…"

"Don't say that, doctor! If you want, I'll go and try to look for her and—"

"No! I mean…" Hank took a deep breath, "Tomoe, could you please, assist the kid for the operation? I have to find her...!"

Tomoe nodded, her face saddened by the news.

"Thank you!"

Hank ran toward the exit. _Please make sure she's alright_, her mother had said.

_If something happened to her, I'll never forgive myself! _

"Hey, be careful, you moron! You nearly made me fall!" Maria yelled at him, but he was already out of sight.

"What the hell just happened?" She wondered out loud. It wasn't like Hank at all.

"Maria?"

The paramedic turned around, "Hey Tomoe!"

The endoscopist surgeon smiled at her friend, but then she remembered what she had seen the night before.

"Are you okay Tomoe?"

"Oh huh, y-yes, sorry! It's just that Dr. Freebird has some problems right now." Tomoe bit her lips, she wasn't good at lying.

"It's about that girl, Claire, isn't it?"

"Yes, apparently she's in trouble… But say, Maria, how was your evening? W…Were you with Jason?"

"Huh? Oh no. He met up with Ashley yesterday evening."

_Does she know? _The endoscopist wondered. "Oh really?"

"Yes, they're very good friends, so they went to see a movie together."

_They're more than just friends, Maria… _Tomoe said silently to her friend. "I see," she told instead.

"But we had breakfast together this morning at my little house."

"Oh really? Well, t-that's good for you…"

Maria frowned at her friend's uneasiness, "Is something wrong?"

"I… well…" Then Tomoe saw her friend's eyes, bright with happiness at the thought of her new boyfriend and she inwardly cursed at herself. "It's just that I feel sad about everything that's happening at the moment. Dr. Freebird's problems with Miss Blunt, our surgeon who is going to leave the hospital. It just feels so much more different than before…"

Maria nodded, understanding what her friend meant. "Yeah I see what you mean. But I'm sure that everything will be fine soon. And since you and I are the only who haven't changed, we have to do everything we can to bring everything back to normal again!"

Tomoe smiled faintly and nodded.

"So, are you going to watch the operation?" The endoscopist surgeon asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Yeah, I guess so. Who's going to assist?"

"Well, it was supposed to be Dr. Freebird, but he asked me to replace him."

"Maaaan, I hope that the issue with Claire isn't too serious."

"I hope not. It's truly heart-breaking to see him like this."

"Yeah I agree. Since he is always so passionate about everything related to life and… well you see what I mean. When is the operation supposed to begin?"

"In less than 45 minutes. Maybe I should begin preparing myself?"

"Yep, I'll go help the kid or Emma and Darnell with all the equipment."

"Alright, I'll see you in 45 minutes then, Maria. I need to consult the charts of the patient."

"No problem. See you Tomoe." And with that, the paramedic left her friend and headed towards room A.

Tomoe sighed. _I truly wonder what is going to happen. If only she could open her eyes… I need to talk to Gabriel,_ she thought.

**XOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOX**

" If we could begin the consultation before the end of the century, it would be great Gabe."

The diagnostician stared at his friend with irritation.

"Hey! You're the one who asked ME to help you, so be gentle or I'm throwing you out of this office!"

Naomi shook her head and sighed.

Someone knocked on the door. Gabe looked at his door, surprised.

"Yes? Come in."

A blond woman entered the office. Before Gabriel could say anything, Naomi smiled.

"Thanks for coming Angie."

Said Angie smiled too and answered the medical examiner: "It was my pleasure."

"Huh? What the…?"

"Oh, that's right." Naomi said. She gestured towards the diagnostician, "Angie, this is Gabriel. Gabe, this is Angie, a nurse in Caduceus, Derek's partner."

Angie extended her hand but Gabriel didn't shake it.

"Alright, alright, I thought you wanted to begin and finish this as soon as possible? So let's begin."

Naomi sighed again while Angie looked surprised by the man's reaction.

"Now, Naomi go lie down on the bed, I'll bring what I need."

Angie raised her eyebrows, "Is he always like that?" She asked Naomi.

"Most of the time, yes. It's quite tiring."

"And when he's not like that?"

"Well, it's worse. It's usually when we discuss the matter of his son. "

Angie nodded, not particularly caring. That's when the diagnostician entered the room with…RONI?

"Gabe? Why do you need RONI for an ultrasound?"

"Well, this stupid computer told me that for a simple ultrasound like this one I could use her. And sorry in advance for all the garbage she will say."

"Wha…?" Angie was utterly lost now.

"_Good morning Miss Kimishima, Nurse Thompson."_

Angie's mouth was wide opened.

"Th-This thing TALKS?"

"Yeah…," Gabe said, obviously bored. "Probably the worst invention of all times, thanks Esha." He sighed. "Alright Naomi, show me your abdomen."

"_The diagnosis has begun. You can see Miss Kimishima's abdomen on the screen. An ultrasound is…"_

"Thanks RONI but no thanks! We all graduated from medicine or nurse college. Your explications are meaningless."

"_As you wish doctor."_

For a moment no one talk, then Gabriel captured an image of the ultrasound.

"See there?" He pointed to the area around a little bean-shaped object, "It's your uterus and this thing is your baby."

"Oh Naomi, it's so amazing!" Angie said, her hand tightening around her friend's.

"Is it normal?" Naomi asked the male doctor.

"From what I can see on the ultrasound yes, but I'll need you to make some tests so we can be sure your baby's normal."

"Alright, thanks Gabe," She said as he finished what he was doing.

"You want the picture?" Gabriel asked his friend.

She seemed surprised by such a question but then she considered it.

"Why not? I'll show it to Alyssa."

"And not to the father of the baby?" Angie asked, wanting to know who the mysterious man was.

Naomi tensed. She knew her friends would ask about the father but she wasn't ready yet to tell them who he was, even though she was sure that Gabriel knew already and probably Tomoe too.

"Does he even know you're pregnant?" Angie insisted.

"Well… Yes, I told him."

"And? What did he say?"

Naomi closed her eyes for a second.

"Angie… it's very complicated… I…I don't really know what I'm doing, and I don't think he's realizing yet what's happening either." She said as she heard Gabe trying to stifle his laughter.

Angie understood that her friend was still lost about her recent pregnancy, and thought that for the moment it was better not to say anything.

"Hey, girls. I think we should go now," Gabriel intervened. "I'm sure we can be in time to watch the end of today's procedure."

Angie remembered Mrs. Mercer's operation and nodded.

The diagnostician held the door of his office open and gave Naomi her picture from the ultrasound.

"You should give the man a chance." He whispered his friend when she passed the door of his office.

Naomi didn't answer, refusing to admit that he might be right for once.

**XOXOXXOXOXOXOOXOXOXX**

"Please, hand me the forceps." CR-S01 asked Tomoe, his assistant for the operation. The endoscopist took the object and gave it to the surgeon. The operation was ending.

Outside, behind a panel of glass, a lot of people were watching the operation. Some of them were writing things on notepads, some people were just looking at the young man so skilled.

_Everything here went well so far_, Tomoe thought, but at the same time she thought of Dr. Freebird and of Maria. _It's so stressful… Focus! The more important right now is to be an honorable assistant for your friend. He deserves his freedom._

Tomoe Tachibana was a great endoscopist surgeon, able to support pressure when operating in difficult conditions, but she wasn't accustomed to support pressure in her personal life. All that happened with Maria and Hank, and even with the surgeon leaving them was nearly too much for her. Anxiety was slowly invading every fibers of her being.

"The operation is done, great job doctor!" She heard her own voice said. _I need to sit down._

"Thank you. Your presence really helped me, Dr. Tachibana."

Emma and Darnell opened the doors of Room A and said to the people who had watched the operation: "The patient is safe, the operation was a success." The people outside were truly happy. When the young surgeon exited the room as well, they greeted him and congratulated him.

"Dr. Tachibana?"

Tomoe turned around to see Emma eyeing her with anxiety.

"Y-Yes Nurse Wilson?"

"Are you… Are you okay? You look so pale…!"

"Y-Yes I-I…" She suddenly felt herself beginning to shake. Her legs were weak and she tried to catch a chair but couldn't.

"Dr. Tachibana?" She heard Emma's voice, and everything around her began to turn black. Then she couldn't see anything anymore and she collapsed.

"Dr. Tachibana? Doctor!" Emma was next to her in an instant.

"Hey Emma, do you think we—"

"Darnell, go search someone! She collapsed. Hurry!"

Darnell was a fast man, he didn't question his friend and exited the room to ask for help.

"Ah! Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Torres!"

The two doctors were talking with Naomi Kimishima, Chief Patel and two guests that Darnell didn't know.

"What is it, Darnell?" Maria asked, turning to look at him.

"Dr. Tachibana just collapsed!"

Gabriel was the first to enter room A, Naomi, Maria, Esha, Derek and Angie right after him.

"Move Emma, please." He said.

"Why did she collapse?" Esha Patel asked the young nurse.

"I really don't know. She seemed to be fine during the operation but at the end, I noticed her being very pale, and then a few minutes after she collapsed."

"Maybe she was stressed by the operation?" Angie proposed, looking at the face of the endoscopist surgeon.

"That's not like her." Gabriel said, while listening to her heart with his stethoscope.

"She's able to support any kind of pressures during any kind of operations," Maria added.

"Emma, bring a glass of water with sugar, please." Esha asked, and Emma left the room.

The eyelids of the Japanese woman fluttered.

"She's gonna wake up," the diagnostician said. "I think that stress isn't the only thing that made her collapse, there must be something else. I'll need to talk with her. Soften the lights a bit, Maria," he added, "or else she'll get a strong headache."

Tomoe opened her eyes slowly and tried to sit. Emma came back at this moment with the sugar and the glass of water and handed them to Esha.

"Calm down, Tomoe, breathe." Maria said, "You passed out for three or four minutes. What happened?"

"I… The operation…"

"The operation went well," Naomi reassured her, "But what about you?"

"I feel better, th-thanks. I think I'm pretty t-tired." She rubbed slowly her temples.

Gabriel looked at her for a moment before saying: "All right: Naomi and I, we will go with Tomoe and make her rest a bit in my office."

"Hey, wait a sec! Why you, moron? Tomoe is my friend, I can take care of her!" Maria said, angry at Gabriel. "Why do you always give me orders?"

"That's not the moment Maria!" Esha said, "I agree with Gabe, and you'll come with me to go see the kid. Come on!" The chief nearly dragged the paramedic out of the room, Darnell, Emma, Derek and Angie following them.

"Alright," Naomi said, "Can you walk, Dr. Tachibana?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, let's go."

They arrived at Gabriel's office not long after, and Tomoe sat on the couch.

"Okay," the diagnostician said, "what really happened?"

Naomi looked at him, surprised by his question.

"I mean," he added, "it's not like you to collapse because you're stressed or tired. So tell us, what is it?"

"Alright," Tomoe sighed, "I can't keep this to me anyway…"

Naomi and Gabriel didn't say anything, waiting for her to talk.

"Maria's boyfriend is cheating on her with a woman she knows, and Dr. Freebird left the hospital to go search for Claire because she didn't come home last night."

"Wow, that's… a lot of news…" Gabriel said, shocked.

"And you kept that for you all this time?" Naomi asked, worried for her friend.

"Dr. Freebird was with me when we saw Maria's boyfriend, but we didn't tell anybody else." She looked at her hands before adding, "And I don't know what to do for Maria. Should I tell her? She seemed so happy…"

Naomi and Gabriel thought about it for a moment.

"I think we should tell her." Naomi said, after a minute. "There is nothing worse than being cheated on."

"I think we shouldn't ." Gabe said.

"What? Why?"

"Because she won't believe it. She needs to find by herself or else she won't believe us."

"But if she knows that we knew and didn't tell her, she will get angry at us," Naomi said, disagreeing with Gabriel. "This is getting nowhere."

"Lying is dishonorable, that's why I can't keep this up. I want to tell Maria, but I'm afraid, as Dr. Cunningham said, that she won't believe me!"

Gabriel looked at Naomi, "Maybe we should search information about this guy?"

"How do you want me to help you in this?" She asked him in return.

"Well… I don't know… Maybe the father of the baby can help?"

Naomi crossed her arms and glowered at her friend. "I'll think about it", was all she said.

The three of them stayed silent for a few minutes before Gabriel sighed loudly.

"Alrigth guys, who's next? The kid is leaving with Caduceus, Naomi's pregnant of her little agent, Maria's boyfriend is cheating on her, and the big guy is losing the woman he loves!"

Naomi and Tomoe said nothing but they knew that Gabriel wasn't really in a good mood either.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOX**

Hank was running. He had been running for an hour now, evading his duties at the hospital to find Claire.

She couldn't be that far away, she was somewhere for sure, but the question was "where exactly"? And he had just _no_ clue.

Then his phone rang. Cursing under his breath, he answered it. It was Claire's mother.

"Doctor Freebird…! The police just called me…!" Hank felt like his heart had suddenly stopped beating. "Claire… She was in trouble and—" He didn't let her finish.

"Where Mrs. Blunt? **Where** is she?" He didn't even realize that he was yelling. As soon as the woman told him where her daughter was, he hung up and literally flew to the scene.

The police was there, as well as curious passers who were attracted by what was going on. When Hank arrived there, out of breath, he immediately searched for Claire in the crowd and he found her with the police, a blanket on her shoulders and a glass of water in one of her hands. She seemed to be alright and that was all that mattered. He tried to clear a way amongst passers to go talk to her but as soon as he arrived near the policemen, he was stopped.

"Sir, please stay behind the line, a young lady has just been attacked."

"I know, but I know her, and if I could just –"

"Didn't you hear me? I said, stay behind the line!"

Hank opened his mouth to answer him but then he saw the muggers who were down on the ground, passed out. _What happened to those guys? Since when do the police knock down aggressors? _He thought, bewildered. There weren't supposed to use force and to beat them, but just to arrest them, except if there was no other possibility. However, Claire seemed alright, no bruises, no external injury then why in the world…?

He looked at Claire again, and that's when he noticed something that he hadn't seen before. Claire was hugging a blanket around her, and a man had laid a hand on her shoulder and was discussing with two policemen.

Hank gawked, the man was wearing a blue costume, big and heavy boots, he also had a red scarf around his neck and he was very well built, just like…the doctor himself.

"H-Hey! You!" He called out. The man looked in his direction, his face masked by an eagle face. Claire saw Hank at that moment, and glowered at him. _That's just not possible…! _"W-Who in the world… are you?"

The man put his hands on his hips and Hank could almost _hear_ the smile in his words as he answered him:

"I am the ambassador of Love and Justice! Captain Eagle!"

Hank felt himself beginning to shake, and he thought something he hadn't thought for a long time. _What the fuck?_

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**Hope you enjoyed this chapter for those who still read this story. **

**Next chapter ( that I'll publish one day in the future) : some Naomi/Navel/Clide interactions, Hank and his big problem, CR-S01 finally leaves with Caduceus, and Tomoe trying to tell Maria about Jason's infidelity. Oh Gosh, that's one big program...!**

**I'll be glad that you tell me what you thought of that chapter, thanks! :D See you guys.**


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